Kosovo Serb Businessman ‘Still Being Probed’ for Politician’s Murder

Chief State Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi said on Wednesday evening that the arrest warrant for Milan Radoicic, suspected of being one of the heads of a criminal organsiation that murdered political party leader Oliver Ivanovic in January 2018, was withdrawn for "technical and tactical reasons" but insisted that "the criminal case against him continues".

"This is a very serious case. Milan Radoicic was investigated in the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, alongside some other people. There is a decision to continue investigations into him," Lumezi told BIRN Kosovo's TV show 'Kallxo Pernime'.

Radoicic, a powerful businessman and vice-president of the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista political party, has denied any involvement in the killing of Ivanovic, who was gunned down outside his party's office in the divided Kosovo city of Mitrovica. In an interview with BIRN not long before his death, Ivanovic described Radoicic, a truck company owner and debt collector, as the real power-holder in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo.

In March last year, a judge at Pristina Basic Court confirmed the case prosecutor's request to withdraw the arrest warrant for Radoicic, who had fled to Serbia to avoid being caught. With the threat of arrest lifted, Radoicic returned to Mitrovica several days later.

Radoicic was accused in the prosecutor's indictment of being the leader of the criminal group that organised the murder, along with another Kosovo Serb businessman, Zvonko Veselinovic, who has also denied any involvement.

A trial is underway of six other people accused of either abetting the crime or evidence-tampering. However, the names of Radoicic and Veselinovic have been repeatedly mentioned during the proceedings.

Radoicic and...