Tome Gashi

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.

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.

Former Prizren police director Nexhmi Krasniqi admitted during prosecution questioning on Thursday that his claims that the former Vetevendosje activist Astrit Dehari - who died in Prizren prison in 2016 - had used medication before his death, had come from the prison director at the time, Destan Zogaj.

Kosovo's Forensic Agency did not conduct a thorough forensic examination, so the Swiss institute that then conducted a separate autopsy had little evidence to work on, the lawyer for the family of the late Astrit Dehari said in an interview for Kosovo's T7 network.

The family of the late Vetevendosje activist Astrit Dehari claim the results of an autopsy conducted by Swiss experts show he was murdered in detention in Prizren in 2016.

Dehari died in the correctional facility in the western Kosovo city after being arrested on suspicion of terrorism for allegedly throwing an explosive device in the parliament.

Protesters marched in Kosovo's capital on Monday, invited by civil society activists, journalists, artists and NGOs to demand "Justice for Astrit" .

Civil society activist Besa Luzha said the truth about the death in prison in Prizren nine days ago of Vetevendosje activist Astrit Dehari must be investigated by independent, international investigators.

Azem Syla, a prominent legislator of the governing Democratic Party of Kosovo, charged on Wednesday in an investigation into an alleged land scam, surrendered to the EU law mission, EULEX, and to Kosovo police on Friday morning.

Syla's defence lawyer Tome Gashi confirmed on Friday that his client had handed himself in to the police.

A prominent legislator from the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, accused of running a major crime syndicate, has disregarded calls to immediately hand himself over.

A defence lawyer for one of the so-called Drenica Group ex-guerrillas, who were sentenced to a total of 65 years in jail for war crimes, said on Tuesday that they will appeal against the convictions, which he called a "legal massacre".