Vlajic: I hope Ibar-Lepenac canal attack trial will be concluded more quickly because defendants are in detention

Attorney Nebojsa Vlajic, defense counsel for Jovan Vicentijevic, expressed hope that the court proceedings in the case concerning the attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal, which restarted today, would proceed more quickly because the defendants are being held in detention and the law itself requires the court to handle such cases expeditiously.

Dragisa and Jovan Vicentijevic and Igor Dimovic, who are charged in connection with the attack on the Ibar-Lepenac canal in the village of Varage near Zubin Potok, again pleaded not guilty at today’s hearing to the offenses with which they are charged.

Their pleas were entered after the trial restarted due to a change in the composition of the trial panel.

Attorney Nebojsa Vlajic expressed confidence that the proceedings would now move more quickly.

“That is what the Criminal Procedure Code requires. When the presiding judge of the panel changes—and that is precisely what happened here because the previous judge retired—the trial has to start over from the beginning. We have now completed those procedural formalities, the next hearing has been scheduled for a month from now, and I hope the proceedings will move somewhat faster than they have so far, because the defendants are in detention and the law itself requires the court to proceed expeditiously,” Vlajic said.

Asked whether he was optimistic about the verdict in the case, he said that he could not help but be optimistic, although he also had a degree of skepticism.

“But my optimism is considerably tempered by what I know about the Kosovo judiciary, so I cannot be as optimistic as I otherwise would be,” Vlajic said.

Dragisa and Jovan Vicentijevic are charged with the criminal offense of “endangering the constitutional order by destroying or damaging public facilities and equipment” under Article 122, in connection with the criminal offense of “commission of a terrorist act.” Jovan Vicentijevic is additionally charged with espionage.

Igor Dimovic is charged with unlawful possession of weapons and is defending himself while at liberty, while Jovan and Dragisa Vicentijevic remain in detention.

All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to the criminal offenses set out in the indictment.

The indictment against Dragisa and Jovan Vicentijevic and Igor Dimovic was filed on December 9 last year.

On November 29, 2024, an explosion occurred on the Ibar-Lepenac canal in the village of Varage near Zubin Potok. The canal carries water from Lake Gazivode and supplies drinking water to South and North Mitrovica, while also providing cooling water for the Kosovo A and Kosovo B thermal power plants.

The next hearings in the case, at which defense witnesses will be examined, are scheduled to take place in December.