Trial of Oliver Ivanovic Murder Suspects Opens in Kosovo

The trial for the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic opened on Tuesday at Pristina Basic Court with the prosecution saying it will prove that the defendants participated in removing obstacles to the killing, abused their official positions and collaborated with the killers, who have not yet been arrested.

"Those who committed the murder are not on trial, their identity is still unknown," state prosecutor Burim Cerkini told the court.

Four of the defendants - Marko Rosic, Silvana Arsovic, Rade Basara, and Nedeljko Spasojevic - are accused of being members of a joint criminal enterprise that murdered Ivanovic outside his political party's office in the city of Mitrovica in January 2018.

Two police officers, Dragisa Markovic and Zarko Jovanovic, are accused of evidence-tampering in the case.

All of them have pleaded not guilty.

Mahmut Halimi, the defence lawyer for Rosic, claimed that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove his client's involvement in the crime.

Rosic is alleged to have followed Ivanovic before his death, but Halimi said he had at least three witnesses to prove Rosic's innocence.

"I have information that Oliver Ivanovic was followed by someone called Debeli," Halimi told the court.

Jovana Filipovic, one of the lawyers for Arsovic, also told the court the prosecution has not provided evidence of her client's guilt. Of the 77 prosecution witnesses, four of whom have protected identities, Filipovic claimed that none has shown a link between Arsovic and the people accused or mentioned in the indictment.

The alleged leaders of the organised criminal group that killed Ivanovic are Kosovo Serb businessmen Milan Radojicic and Zvonko Veselinovic.

Radoicic, who is...