Kosovo Office head expects Ivanovic to be released

Kosovo Office head expects Ivanovic to be released

In January 2016, an international court chamber found Ivanovic guilty of war crimes and sentenced him to nine years in prison.

"Ivanovic has already been caused irreparable harm and injustice, but the judgment that is expected should also in a symbolic sense herald a new era in Kosovo and Metohija, where citizens, primarily Serbs and other non-Albanians, will enjoy guaranteed rights as all other Europeans do," said Djuric, according to a statement published on the website of the Office.

The Appellate Chamber that will rule in the case "should be aware that a lot more than one human destiny depends on its decisions - the principles that separate the law from tyranny will depend on it," said Djuric.

He added that EULEX's justice in Kosovo and Metohija, on the third anniversary of Ivanovic's incarceration, stands ahead of perhaps its biggest test so far, "and if a decision is made according to the law and justice Oliver Ivanovic will be a free man in the near future."

"The entire proceedings against Ivanovic was marked by a series of decisions that would be impossible in court practices of democratic societies, which is why Serbs, but also many Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija, believe that in this case politics prevailed over justice," Djuric noted.

He added that the first instance verdict was made in disregard of the fact that there was no evidence Ivanovic was guilty of the criminal offense ascribed to him. In addition, Djuric said, Ivanovic's right to be free pending the outcome of the trial was systematically denied, although the state of Serbia guaranteed for him, while the period of time which has elapsed since the appeal was lodged and the upcoming second instance verdict has been "intolerably long."

"Oliver, however, withstood it all stoically, believing that injustice cannot rule forever, and that in Europe of the 21st century there is no place for political prisoners," said Djuric.