19 Nov 14
Eight persons from Zubin Potok pleaded not guilty on Tuesday before a EULEX judge in Mitrovica of attacking EULEX personnel and property and endangering UN and associated staff.

Petrit Collaku
BIRN
Pristina

The first hearing in court of eight Kosovo Serbs, known as Sovrlic et al, started on Tuesday at the Basic Court of Mitrovica.

The eight are accused of attacking EULEX personnel and property and endangering United Nations and associated personnel. All the defendants pleaded not guilty at a session that was closed to the public.

The accused are: Slobodan Sovrlic, Slavoljub Velickovic, Boban Janicijevic, Rodolub Tomovic, Zarko Jaksic, Uros Bozovic, Branko Djurovic and Dragan Radulovic.

The group are suspected of having attaced an EU and Kosovo police convoy on September 7, 2012, in the northern Serb-run part of Kosovo, when a group of masked persons opened fire on them.

A Kosovo Police officer was slightly injured and a Kosovo Police and a EULEX vehicle were damaged.

Police in northern Kosovo said the assault took place at around 9am on the road between Zupce and Zubin Potok during a routine joint patrol of the two forces.

The group are also charged with other crimes, such as obstructing and attacking persons in the performance of their official duties, damaging property and theft.

Those crimes were committed in Zubin Potok and in the north of Kosovo in July 2011 when an arson attack occurred at a crossing point in Jarinje in northern Kosovo.

Kosovo police arrested Slobodan Sovrlic on March 11, 2014, but a day later a local crowd of more than 100 Serbs forced his release from the police station in Zubin Potok.

On 15 May, police recaptured Sovrlic who has been in detention since then.