Memorial service for Oliver Ivanovic at the Church of Saint Sava; Brnabic: Pristina is sabotaging the identification of the killers

A memorial service was held at the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade for the leader of the Civic Initiative “Freedom Democracy Justice,” Oliver Ivanovic, who was murdered on this day eight years ago in North Mitrovica. President of the Serbian Parliament Ana Brnabic stressed that for eight years Pristina has been sabotaging efforts to uncover the killers and said that Belgrade will continue to insist that those who ordered, organized, and carried out the murder be found.

The memorial service was attended by members of Oliver Ivanovic’s family, his wife Milena Popovic and their son, as well as representatives of Serbia’s state leadership – Speaker of Parliament Ana Brnabic, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Djuric, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic, and Commissioner for the Protection of Equality Milan Antonijevic.

Ana Brnabic emphasized that Pristina has been sabotaging the identification of Oliver Ivanovic’s killers for eight years and reiterated that Belgrade will continue to insist that those who ordered the crime, the organizers, and the perpetrators be brought to justice.

“Eight years have passed since the brutal murder of Oliver Ivanovic, eight years without justice, eight years without information about who organized, ordered, and carried out this murder, eight years in which Pristina has been sabotaging the pursuit of justice or any serious and meaningful investigation. We will continue, as we say every year, to insist on justice,” Brnabic told reporters after the memorial.

She stressed that justice is attainable, that it is sometimes extremely slow, but that it is always attainable, and that Belgrade will continue to insist that those who ordered, organized, and carried out the murder of Oliver Ivanovic be found.

“The very fact that Pristina is the one sabotaging the investigation and not sharing any information indicates that the killer is not of Serbian origin, because everyone knows what Pristina stands for and what its values are – if there were any suspicions that someone of Serbian origin was behind the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, those people would have long ago been indicted and evidence would have been presented. Therefore, Pristina is protecting someone else. But the truth will certainly come out. We will continue to insist on justice,” Brnabic said.

Ivanovic was murdered on this day eight years ago, shot six times in the back as he was entering the courtyard of his party’s headquarters in North Mitrovica.

There were no witnesses, and footage from security cameras was never found. Two investigations were conducted, in Belgrade and Pristina, but they have still not determined who the perpetrators and those who ordered the crime were.