Members of the advocacy platform Empirika - civil society organizations, issued a statement on the anniversary of the murder of CI SDP, Oliver Ivanovic, reports Kontakt plus radio.

''On the anniversary of the assassination of our fellow citizen, friend, neighbor and a leading political figure among Kosovo Serbs, Oliver Ivanovic, a group of NGOs, members of the Empirika platform, NGO Aktiv, Humani Centar, Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC), Center for the Rights of Minority Communities (CRMC), Communication for Social Development (CSD), Forum for Development and Multiethnic Collaboration and Mreža za građanski aktivizam (MGA), express their concern and dissatisfaction with the fact that twelve months after this heinous act, the broader public does not have relevant information on the perpetrators and motives of this crime.'

The failure to shed light on the circumstances in which this crime took place have had devastating effects on the society in which we live as well as on the freedom of citizens to express their thoughts and opinions.

The murder of Oliver Ivanovic marked the death of freedom, feelings of security and the dignity of the Serbian people in Kosovo; because of this it is completely senseless to speak of a normal existence in this area until the perpetrators are brought to justice.

Likewise, we consider that speculations as to the motives and the architects of the assassination are in equal part damaging and dangerous for the basic democratic principles of our society and need to be forestalled through independent and effective investigative measures as part of a process that is free of political bias and tabloid speculation.  That kind of task can be undertaken only by an independent investigation as part of the European Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and relevant international organizations on a request for cooperation by investigative bodies in Pristina and Belgrade.  In this case, mandated barriers and formalism are inexcusable and play directly into the hands of the perpetrators.

Taking all of these factors into consideration, NGO Aktiv calls on the EU Mission in Kosovo to take up responsibility and to apply the values that it propagates by commencing preparations for the formation of an independent investigation within the scope of EULEX.

We further call on the representatives of influential diplomatic missions in Kosovo to support this request and to contribute to its realization.''

See at: https://bit.ly/2HghXcr