After the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic, Mitrovica North is a city without a soul. While Oliver Ivanovic was alive, north of Kosovo and Mitrovica North had their souls. People had hope situation would eventually get better for us and our children. There was optimism, Dragisa Milovic, former mayor of Zvecan municipality and politician said in Slobodno srpski TV broadcast.
Once on different political lines, following the release of Oliver Ivanovic from detention where he spent three years, Dragisa Milovic and Oliver Ivanovic became political associates and close friends.
Speaking with Budimir Nicic, host in Slobodno srpski TV broadcast, Dragisa Milovic said that after Ivanovic’s murder everything is different in the north of Kosovo.
Milovic said he was particularly hurt with the attitude and stances of local politicians and institutions in the north of Kosovo, following Oliver’s murder.
“Representatives of local self-governance and all institutions and politicians who live there and work failed the exam. The body of Oliver Ivanovic should have been placed in the best hall Mitrovica has, so people could pay the tribute to him and express condolence to his family, given that he was later buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens in Belgrade,” Milovic said.
“Instead, he was placed in the premises of his political party. There must have been extraordinary assembly sessions. We could just look how our neighbours act in a similar situation (…). However, people showed how much they respected Oliver Ivanovic and they did not fail that test, unlike local politicians”.
Milovic, who was a mayoral candidate in Zvecan during the last elections, further said he is concerned about his safety, and reminded on four murders that happened in Mitrovica North and none of them is yet resolved. His vehicle, but also a vehicle of Oliver Ivanovic, were burned down during the local election campaign.
Milovic said he is not satisfied with the way how the investigation is ongoing, adding there were shortcomings since its beginning.
“The crime scene was not separated with a police type on time, there were many people walking there. We saw passivity of UNMIK, KFOR, EULEX. We saw that Pristina rejected calls from Serbia to involve in the investigation (…)”.
Although he is not an optimist the murder would be resolved, Milovic expects and believes that the killers and order givers will be found, as this is the only way to regain some sort of a normal life in the north of Kosovo and Mitrovica North.
He added, he is encouraged by the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic message, during his visit to Kosovo that the authorities would deal with crime and corruption within their own ranks.
He also touched upon a negative campaign by some media during the last elections, targeting both him and Oliver Ivanovic.
“(…). We saw it on TV Pink, but what hurt me the most is that TV Most, whose journalists and editors know who Oliver is and who Dragisa Milovic is, was also involved. I called the TV Most editor, Ljiljana Jankovic and asked her what is going on, what kind of TV spots they are airing. To assign an Albanian flag to Oliver, to label him as a traitor, Pristina satellite (..). She said she is powerless, the spot was ordered and made in Belgrade. So she was there just to obey. That is why we filed criminal charges and I truly hope we will prove in the court who draw the target on Oliver Ivanovic (…)”.
Speaking about the situation in the north of Kosovo, he said that situation is never worse, before there were unity and optimism and now there is a high unemployment rate, young people do not have jobs, there are drugs, criminal activities.
At the end, Milovic who is now a councillor in Zvecan municipality said he will not withdraw from the politics but would continue to point out what is good and what is not good.
“(…) I have a duty toward our co-citizens to get involved in the work of the local parliament and to resolve the local problems,” Milovic concluded.
