The editor of KoSSev portal from northern Mitrovica, Tanja Lazarevic, told TV N1 in a Show Pressing that she does not want to politicize the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, nor to speculate on who could stand behind this act, but points out that northern Mitrovica has become a dangerous place for life in the last four years and that the SDP leader was subjected to terrible verbal attacks.
Lazarevic says that he was shocked by the murder of Ivanovic, but somewhat. She reminds that in the last two decades Ivanovic has been the most exposed political figure among the Kosovo Serbs, and that he has often been the target of incidents from which one could get the impression that his life was threatened. However, as she points out, there was a limit, and the one who would raise his hand at Ivanovic knew well that the attack will echo.
Lazarevic, however, recalls that Oliver Ivanovic’s political career in the period after leaving the prison is completely different from the earlier stages and that the way he was isolated and stigmatized in the media cannot be bypassed in the investigation of his murder.
“This case shouldn’t be politicized, but one cannot be silent over the terrible verbal attacks that he was exposed to. It is a language that draws a target on the forehead,” says Lazarevic, pointing out that this contributed to the creation of a climate for the general public to ” realize ” that Ivanovic was an enemy and that it was not wise to hang out with him.
KoSSev’s editor in chief claims that a large number of Serbian journalists were afraid to go to Oliver Ivanovic’s press conferences, and that in the past few months there has been a terrible degree of self-censorship.
Commenting on the statement by President Aleksandar Vucic that the Serbs in northern Mitrovica think that the murder was committed from the south, Lazarevic says that everything is possible while the investigation is on-going, but that she has completely different sources.
“I invite citizens to read only the part of the comments in the Serbian media, including our portal, the social networks that are on fire, profiles of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. I did not manage to find one, where I could read something similar. Which does not mean that it is not possible, but I wanted to ask him (Vucic) with what information he dispose, apart from talking to the mayor (northern Mitrovica, Goran Rakic),” Lazarevic says.
She also says that she was glad when the president said that “everything would be clear to everyone, if you look to whom the murder suited”, and that she hoped that he would finish his thought, but that she regrets that he didn’t.
North Mitrovica has become a very unsafe place to live
Commenting on Oliver Ivanovic’s statement that the Serbs in the north of Kosovo are not afraid of Albanians, she says that that it was strange to her that the news in the Serbian media gave it a great importance because as she explains, the story of the Serbian-Albanian relations of the previous years went into the another plan, due to the terrible destabilization within the Serbian community.
According to her, North Mitrovica has become a very insecure place to live.
“Last four years, in the post-Brussels history of the Kosovo Serbs, we have a very clear indication that something is wrong a lot. I agree that this is a terrorist act (the murder of Ivanovic), but we are, a minimum of four years, in this type of semi-terrorism. We have 24 cases of car burning since 2014. In these 24 cases, 31 cars have been set on fire. The perpetrators have never been discovered. We have 29 armed attacks in that period,” she said.
I want to believe in what the President said
When asked who was responsible for such a situation in northern Kosovo, Lazarevic says that she has her own opinion, but that she does not want to speculate.
“I want to believe what the president said – that only a monster can kill someone for political reasons. I honestly want to believe that the president of my country believes that there is no state institution that could be part of this,” says Lazarevic.
Lazarevic reminds that on the same day, four years ago, Dimitrije Janicijevic, a close associate and Ivanovic’s best man, was killed, and that this murder has not been solved to this day.
Tanja Lazarevic expects an even larger number of the Serbs to leave northern Mitrovica unless something drastically does not change.
