an hour agoPolice admit they have touched evidence of Ivanovic's murder case
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)A justice document provided by BIRN shows that two policemen in northern Kosovo admitted to the court that they have touched evidence on the crime scene, where Serbian politician Oliver Ivanovic was fatally shot. Two police officers admitted they had manipulated evidence on the scene of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic's murder, according to [...]
The two policemen admitted they had manipulated the evidence at the scene of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic's assassination, according to a written process of a decision taken by the Constitutional Court in the town of Mitrovica to free them.
One of the policemen, identified with the initials Mr.J., told the court that he did what the prosecution alleged “by ignorance and lack of training, and not deliberately” and that he sincerely regretted his actions.
Other police attorney identified as D. M., told the court that her client called the ambulance on his cell phone thinking Ivanovic was sick, but not knowing what had happened to him, according to the court's document.
During the hearing in Mitrovica on Monday, the prosecution said the surveillance videos analysed by investigators showed Mr.J. taking a bullet shell from the crime scene and putting it in his pocket.
According to the prosecution, second police officer D. M. saw Mr. J. that he might do this, but he didn't respond.
The prosecution also said the two policemen allowed a passerby to pass to the crime scene, where Oliver Ivanovic was shot dead on January 16th, in front of his party's offices in northern Mitrovica.
The court ruled that the prosecution has all evidence from the crime scene, so there is no concern that the suspects, who were released from custody Monday, could destroy any evidence.
Two policemen from the Serb-run northern part of Mitrovica were arrested on Saturday.
Ivanovic was head of the Freedom, Democracy and Justice initiative, which opposed the main Belgrade-backed Serbian party, the Serbian List, which is part of the Kosovo government.
The prominent politician had said several times that he and his family had received threats and had sought help from Kosovo, Serbia and others, but without any results.
Serbia declared the murder an act of terrorism and demanded that it be allowed to participate in bringing the guilty to justice.
Ivanovic was seen as a moderate politician who co-founded the existence between the Kosovo Serb minority and its Albanian majority.
Before his death, however, he was being retriald under suspicion that he had ordered the killing of Kosovo Albanians during the war in 1999. He pleaded innocent. / BIRN/
