Laurant BerishaPristinaBIRNMarch 14, 202317:21In the latest incident to mar the trial for the 2018 assassination of Kosovo Serb opposition politician Oliver Ivanovic, his widow asked to testify from Serbia because she is afraid to come to court in Pristina.
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The trial for the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic at Pristina Basic Court on Tuesday. Photo: BIRN.
Milena Popovic, the widow of Kosovo Serb politician, Oliver Ivanovic, who was shot dead outside his party’s office in January 2018, has asked the Pristina Basic Court to make it possible for her to testify from Serbia, saying she was frightened because of the political situation in Kosovo, the presiding judge in the case said on Tuesday.
“On March 4, 2023, we received an email [from Popovic] that emphasized that due to the political situation, for her safety, she cannot present herself. [She] requests that the court provide her the opportunity to testify via video link,” presiding judge Valon Kurtaj told the court.
It was the second time this year that Popovic has refused to testify in court. The first time, on January 11, Popovic said she could not be present for personal reasons.
The judges decided on Tuesday to request international legal assistance to enable Popovic to testify.
“We will try once again through international legal assistance to request that Milena Popovic’s statement be received, even via a video link,” Kurtaj said.
Prosecutor Burim Cerkini said that Popovic’s testimony is important but “we cannot wait for her infinitely”.
Wednesday’s hearing in the trial has been cancelled because two other witnesses said they are frightened to come to court due to the political tensions in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo, after mass resignations of Kosovo Serbs from the police force and other Kosovo institutions in early November 2022.
Since November 2022, six hearings have not been held due to the absence of witnesses.
The indictment accuses Marko Rosic, Silvana Arsovic, Nedelko Spasojevic and Rade Basara of being members of a joint criminal enterprise that organised the assassination of Kosovo Serb political party leader Ivanovic outside his office in Mitrovica in January 2018.
Two police officers, Dragisa Markovic and Zarko Jovanovic, are also on trial, accused of evidence-tampering in the case. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.
In mid-October, Milan Mihajlovic, a Serb from the northern Kosovo town of Leposavic, who had been on the run since 2019, was also arrested for alleged involvement in the murder of Ivanovic.
Mihajlovic is one of a dozen Serbs from northern Kosovo who in August 2021 were sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department for alleged links to transnational organised crime.
The US Treasury Department claimed Mihajlovic is linked with controversial businessman Zvonko Veselinovic, who is also on the US sanctions list.
Veselinovic, together with Milan Radoicic, who is vice-president of Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb political party Srpska Lista, have been accused of being the leaders of the organised criminal group that killed Ivanovic.
Radoicic and Veselinovic have denied any wrongdoing. Neither man has been charged.
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