Jacques Ogar, former Head of French Special Units in Kosovo, after signing Kumanovo Agreement, initiated petition for the release of Oliver Ivanovic. He said that the case against Oliver Ivanovic is basically political process, stressing that EU must immediately react in order to stop that farce.
Why Oliver Ivanovic was detained?
The leader of Civic Initiative SDP Oliver Ivanovic stated today that he is of opinion that credibility of EULEX is seriously undermined due to the indictment raised against him, which he described as fake and politically motivated one.
In a written statement to ‘Kontakt Plus Radio’ Ivanovic assessed that process against him is political one and that he is disappointed that decision on his detention is not replaced with a less strict measure.
Office for Kosovo and Metohija said that criminal proceedings against the SDP leader, Oliver Ivanovic and four Serbs, for alleged murder of Kosovo Albanians have been conducted and completed.
In the Municipal Court in Mitrovica Oliver Ivanovic, Dragoljub Delibasic, Ilija and Nebojsa Vujacic and Aleksandar Lazovic are tried on suspicion that they were responsible for the murders of Kosovo Albanians in 1999 and 2000.
As announced by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija against them UNMIK judiciary has led and completed the process in 2002.
Deputy Head of the EULEX Joelle Vachter said that she believes that the implementation of the Brussels agreement on judiciary will contribute to improving the lives of citizens in the north.
When will start implementation of the agreement and what kind of role in this process will have EULEX?
We expect further steps regarding the implementation of this agreement. We are ready to implement the agreement at any time.
Which obstacles do you expect in the implementation?
The agreement reached by Belgrade and Pristina in the continuation of the dialogue on normalisation of relations removed the obstacle for the constitution of the Community of Serb municipalities (ZSO), Citizens' Initiative 'Freedom, Democracy, Justice' (GI SDP) stated on Tuesday.
GI SDP recalled that the achievement of the agreement posed an obstacle to the talks on ZSO constitution for almost a year.
Now that the obstacle has been removed, we hope that the agreement on constitution and functioning of ZSO would be achieved soon, GI SDP released.
In cross-examination at the trial of Oliver Ivanovic, prosecution witness Muhamed Lapashtica gave contradictory statements, claims defence attorney. "In four days three witnesses were questioned and their statements are inconsistent," said Ivanovic’s lawyer Nebojiša Vlajić.
He explained that the witnesses are contradictory in their statements related to the event on 14 April 1999. "I am sure that the public prosecutor’s charge cannot be supported by evidence, what is more and more clear as the trial progresses," said Vlajić.
Leader of Civic Initiative SDP Oliver Ivanovic evaluated as a positive news initiative of the Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic to present a proposal for the Kosovo issue. The discussion on the proposal will keep public attention on the issue of Kosovo and will draw the attention of the international community, who believe that Kosovo is not an important issue to the Serbs.
Director of the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric said today that the government would continue to support the team for the defense of Oliver Ivanovic.
"All the public knows in what conditions is Ivanovic today and all those, who care about justice, fairness and the rule of law, are expected to allow bail for Ivanovic and to accept guarantees that are provided and not to allow instrumentalization of the case in further political ends," Djuric said.
On 27 December will be 11 months since the arrest of Oliver Ivanović. On the same day expires the decision on the extension of his detention. Defence says it is ready, and representatives of the CI SDP, whose leader is Ivanovic, expect that EULEX will make a fair decision and allow the accused to be released pending trial.