Defence lawyers of the four arrested Serbs held a press conference in the premises of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija in Mitrovica North on Saturday evening.

During the conference, lawyer Dejan A. Vasic said that the four Serbs arrested in Mitrovica North on Friday were not charged with the murder. All four were sentenced to 30-day detention and would be placed in the high-risk prison in Podujevo. The lawyers of the arrested persons will file an appeal on Monday for all four Serbs and seek the termination of the detention.

“They are not charged with the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, but for some incidental events related to the murder,” lawyer Vasic said and pointed out that his client, Dragisa Markovic, was suspected of giving away an official secret and was arrested because he was seen talking using a mobile phone at the murder scene.

“The explanation and the very request for detention contains absolutely not a single evidence, nor anything that can indicate that he really did that. They do not even say who is the man who saw him making the phone call that day. They did not say what kind of information he had given away, nor to whom he gave it. In my view, this request is a speculation using some semi-truths and it mostly consists of media reports” Vasic said.

Milos Delevic, who together with Miro Delevic defends the suspect Marko Rosic, said they are deeply convinced that the request for the detention of their client was based solely on the assumptions and that there was no reasonable doubt. Delević said that they cannot speak about other details, as the investigation is still being conducted.

Lawyer Srdjan Mitrovic, who represents Aleksandar Curic said that his client was sent, in line with a pre-trial judge’s decision to serve the detention in high-risk prison in Podujevo for 30 days.

Mitrović said that his client was charged with interfering authorized officials in the performance of public security services and for the unauthorized possession of weapons and ammunition.

“It’s a small amount, it’s not yet proven, ammunition allegedly found was in a vest, that was found in a park near the place where he lives,” Mitrovic said.

He added that the explanation of the detention decision in his view is completely inconsistent and did not respond to the factual situation.

Mitrović did not want to speculate about the degree of injuries of his client because, as he said, he was not a doctor, but said that what he saw were injuries in the form of bruises and redness of the skin, and that there were no head injuries.

He said they proposed to the competent prosecutor that a medical and, if possible, a psychiatric examination of his client is performed, because they believe that this is necessary in this situation.