Ivanovic to remain in detention pending appeal

As a result, Ivanovic, the leader of Citizens' Initiative Serbia, Democracy, Justice, will remain in a detention unit in Pristina for the time being, Gudeljevic said in a statement to the press. An international judge of the Mitrovica Basic Court has ordered that Ivanovic be transferred to the detention unit in northern Mitrovica after his attorney Nebojsa Vlajic requested a transfer to the Serb-majority part of the town. In the request, Vlajic cited several problems related to conditions in the detention unit in Pristina and the distance he and Ivanovic's family have to travel between the detention unit and their places of residence. A pre-trial judge has deemed that there are no problems regarding the detainee's personal safety while in detention in Pristina, and that his rights are not in danger. However, under Article 33 of the law on enforcement of criminal sanctions, the permanent or temporary place of residence of a detainee's family must be taken into account, Gudeljevic explained. The final decision will be taken by the panel of international judges of the Mitrovica Basic Court, and the suspect will remain in the detention unit in Pristina in the meantime, the EULEX spokesperson said. The leader of Citizens' Initiative Serbia, Democracy, Justice and candidate for mayor of northern Kosovska Mitrovica in the February 23 elections has been in detention since January 27. He was arrested on suspicion of involvement in an alleged war crime in 1999 and post-war incidents in 2000, including an aggravated murder, and for inciting to ethnically motivated murder. Following Ivanovic's arrest, leaders of political parties and institutions in northern Kosovska Mitrovica as well as the Serbian government Office for Kosovo have demanded from the Pristina judiciary that he be released pending trial. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic protested Ivanovic's arrest in the strongest of terms before the UN Security Council on February 10. He said that the arrest took place just before the mayoral elections in northern Mitrovica - in which Ivanovic is one of the candidates - and demanded his release. On the same day, the Serbian government provided guarantees that Ivanovic and three other Serbs will be available to the EULEX mission throughout their trials.