Srpska Lista

Special Prosecutor Syle Hoxha, who is investigating last year's murder of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic, told BIRN on Tuesday that he wants to question Rada Trajkovic about her claim that she was offered a videotape of the killing.

Kosovo Serb politician Trajkovic made the claim to Serbian media on September 28, saying that she refused to take the tape.

The family of the murdered Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic have asked the Kosovo Election Commission to forbid the main Kosovo Serb party, Srpska Lista, SL, from using his name in the October elections after a senior official of his party defected to the SL.

The Kosovo prosecution announced on Monday that it has indicted ex-minister Ivan Todosijevic, alleging that he "deliberately publicly incited and spread hate, division and intolerance between national, racial and ethnic communities in Kosovo".

Oliver Ivanovic. Photo: EPA-EFE/Andrej Cukic.

Syle Hoxha, the prosecutor working on the Oliver Ivanovic murder case, told BIRN on Tuesday that the probe has been widened to include two further suspects with possible links to organised crime.

Protesters rallied on Tuesday in the north of the divided town of Mitrovica, carrying placards with messages like "EU open your eyes", "All we are saying is give peace a chance", "They are beating and terrorising us", "We want peace - not new wars" and "Don't shut us in a ghetto".

A statement believed to have been posted on Facebook by Milan Radoicic, a businessman widely seen as the real power-holder in Serb-majority northern Kosovo, who is wanted in connection with the murder of politician Oliver Ivanovic, said the ultimate goal of a police raid on his home last week was to kill him.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci's office on Thursday said that he will not appoint Radomir Laban to the country's Constitutional Court until "competent security and judicial institutions conduct a full check-up" of his background.

"Due to suspicions regarding Laban's past, the President of Kosovo will not sign his appointment," Thaci's office told Radio Free Europe.

Goran Rakic, the president of the main Kosovo Serb party, Srpska Lista, said on Tuesday that an Association of Serbian Municipalities will be set up independently from Pristina and that the party will leave the Kosovo government.

The Kosovo Assembly is set to vote on the controversial agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro on Tuesday at 4pm, but a few hours before the deal is sent to MPs, it remains unclear if the ruling coalition can ensure it has 80 votes to ratify it.

After a six-hour hearing, the Basic Court in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, on Monday evening released two policemen who had been arrested on suspicion of having manipulated evidence in the investigation into the murder of Ivanovic.

The prosecution asked for 30 days' custody for the two officers on grounds of suspected evidence manipulation.