Saturday, September 19, 2015

Kosovo: Oliver Ivanovic released from prison


The international panel of judges of the Basic Court in Kosovska Mitrovica has decided to release Oliver Ivanovic from prison pending the outcome of his trial.
Source: B92, Beta, RTS
(Beta, file)
(Beta, file)
Ivanovic, who has been imprisoned for 20 months, will now be placed under house arrest.
His lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic confirmed the news on Friday.

RTS is reporting that Ivanovic will have to hand over his travel documents to the court, and will also not be allowed to contact "certain persons."

His co-defendant, retired MUP Colonel Dragoljub Delibasic, has also been released.

Ivanovic, a Serb politician from northern Kosovo, has been accused of committing war crimes against ethnic Albanians in 1999 and 2000.

Protesting his innocence and demanding to be released, he last month embarked on a 16-day hunger strike.

Earlier this week, the court in Kosovska Mitrovica heard the last prosecution witness in the case, Gani Mikulovci, who, like all other witnesses before him, failed to implicate Ivanovic in the crimes. His lawyer Vlajic said at the time:

"After this witness has been heard and bearing in mind that the prosecution's list of witnesses has been completely exhausted, it is completely clear that the public prosecutor has no evidence for what Oliver Ivanovic and other Serbs from Kosovska Mitrovica stand accused of."

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