Two years since the murder of Oliver Ivanov

Civic Initiative leader “Liberty, Democracy, Justice” (SDP), Oliver Ivanovic passed away after a firearm assassination the early hours of January 16, 2018.

The authors of the attack left no way out: the head of Kosovo Serbs was shot at with 4 bullets in the chest as he entered his party's office in northern Mitrovica.

Ivanovic, a good Albanian-language connoisseur, a graduate of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Mitrovica and later of the economy in Pristina, began the political career just during the Kosovo war, when he was appointed president of the Serbian National Council for the North of Kosovo and Metohija.

It would be transformed after the conflict into the main leader of Kosovo Serbs, bringing a new spirit into Serbian politics, which initially enthralled the internationals, then collapsed when charges of participation in the massacres against Albanians came to light.

He was facing the war crimes trial, charged that he had ordered the murder of Albanians in Mitrovica in 1999.

This act, which denied him on the claim that he was groundless and based on his activity in favour of the Serb presence in Kosovo, left him two years behind bars before he was released and waited on the outcome of the trial in free.

Earlier, Ivanovic's car had been set on fire. He himself had then indicated that he was not involved in illegal businesses and had no enemies, only political opponents.

Ivanovic had sharply accused Belgrade of supporting the Serbian “List” in the October 22nd elections of 2017, and said then that the time has come when Serbia's “are afraid of Serbs, not Albanians”.

Kosovo's Special Prosecutor has filed charges on December 2nd 2019 against six persons of Serbian Nationality, Marko Rassic, Nedelko Spasojevicq, Dragisa Markovic, Zarko Jovanovic, Silvana Arsovic and Radeta Basara, who are charged with criminal acts, participation or organisation of the criminal group, misuse of the official position, help carry out the criminal act grave murder, unauthorised possession of the weapon, revealing the official secret and misuse of official office by manipulating with evidence.

Last December 30th of last year at the Special Department of the Constitutional Court in Pristina was meant to start the initial hearing against the accused in the Ivanovic murder case, but this session was postponed for February 11th of this year, after the Special Prosecutor has changed the indictment.