Rade Basara

Testifying via video link from Serbia at Pristina Basic Court on Friday, Milena Popovic, the widow of murdered Kosovo Serb opposition politician Oliver Ivanovic, said her husband did not voice any concerns about his safety before he was shot dead in the north of the ethnically-divided city of Mitrovica in January 2018.

Milena Popovic, the widow of Kosovo Serb politician, Oliver Ivanovic, who was shot dead outside his party's office in January 2018, has asked the Pristina Basic Court to make it possible for her to testify from Serbia, saying she was frightened because of the political situation in Kosovo, the presiding judge in the case said on Tuesday.

Two witnesses at the trial for the 2018 killing of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic at the Pristina Basic Court on Tuesday showed reluctance to confirm previous testimonies they gave to the prosecution in which they named alleged members of organised criminal groups that operate in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo.

Three years after the initial indictment for the murder of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic, the first witness was heard in the trial at Pristina Basic Court on Monday.

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.

The Court of Appeals in Pristina on Tuesday confirmed the third version of the indictment accusing six people of being part of an alleged organised criminal group that was responsible for the killing of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic in January 2018, clearing the way for the start of the trial.

Six suspects accused of involvement in the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the Freedom, Democracy, Justice party, was gunned down outside his office in January 2018, pleaded not guilty at Pristina Basic Court on Friday.

The six defendants in the Oliver Ivanovic murder trial - Nedelko Spasojevic, Marko Rosic, Silvana Arsovic, Dragisa Markovic, Zarko Jovanovic and Rade Basara - all entered not guilty pleas as their trial for assisting the killing of the Kosovo Serb politician began on Tuesday at Pristina Basic Court.

An amended version of Oliver Ivanovic murder case indictment, which has been seen by BIRN, accuses his political party's administrator, Silvana Arsovic, of being part of an organised criminal group that was behind the killing.

SDP Civic Initiative leader Oliver Ivanovic was killed on January 16, 2018, in Kosovska Mitrovica.
The preliminary hearing will be closed to the public and the accused will briefly plead the indictment, the evidence presented during the trial will be discussed, and the court's decision on the request of the prosecutor to order home detention for the three defendants is expected.