EULEX prosecutor: Detention extension for Ivanovic

Ivanovic's lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic told Tanjug that he received the EULEX public prosecutor's request for extension of detention for the GI SDP leader on Wednesday and that he immediately opposed the request.“There is no reason to extend detention for Ivanovic, just like there were no reasons for him to be placed in detention a month ago,” Vlajic said and recalled that in the meantime, the Serbian government extended guarantees that Ivanovic would be available at all times to EULEX judicial bodies. Vlajic noted that he expects the EULEX court to seriously review the guarantees. The decision on the request of the international prosecutor for detention extension for Ivanovic has to be adopted by midnight on Thursday, February 27, when the previously pronounced 30-day detention is due to expire, Vlajic said. Ivanovic was arrested on January 27 on suspicion of involvement in an alleged war crime in 1999 and post-war incidents in 2000, including an aggravated murder. Following Ivanovic's arrest, leaders of political parties and institutions in northern Kosovska Mitrovica as well as the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija 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. Assembly members call for Ivanovic's release pending trial. Ksenija Bozovic, president of the municipal assembly of northern Mitrovica, requested on Wednesday, on behalf of Serb assembly members, that leader of the Citizens' Initiative SDP Oliver Ivanovic and other detained Serbs be released pending trial. In the release issued on behalf of the municipality and assembly members of the Citizens' Initiative "Freedom, Democracy, Justice" (GI SDP) and in her own name, Bozovic urged that Ivanovic and other Serbs that had been detained without grounds be allowed to leave custody pending trial. Complying with the request is of extreme importance as it will have positive implications for the stability of the political situation in northern Kosovo-Metohija, for easing of tensions among citizens who have been upset by the groundless arrests and some secret lists, Bozovic noted."The smooth running of new municipalities has been brought into question, as the issue of citizens' security is in the forefront of our attention at the moment," said the president of the municipal assembly of northern Mitrovica and called on the international judiciary to give serious consideration to her request. Oliver Ivanovic was arrested on January 27 on suspicion of involvement in an alleged war crime in 1999 and post-war incidents in 2000, including an aggravated murder.