Murder of Oliver Ivanović

Category: Above the law

Period: from 2017

Outcome: Under investigation (as of 28 Jun 2024)

Oliver Ivanović, a Kosovo Serb politician who opposed Srpska Lista, was shot six times in the back on 16 January 2018 in North Mitrovica. His killing followed a smear campaign in which his car was set on fire and TV Pink broadcast a video against him. A court in Pristina convicted four accomplices at first instance. According to the court's reasoning, as reported by the media, the murder was organised by Milan Radoičić's group "with the support of the state of Serbia". Radoičić, who is on the run, denies this. The Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime has been conducting a pre-investigation since 2018 with no public results, while the president and ministers maintain that Radoičić was not involved.

Smear campaign and murder

Oliver Ivanović, leader of the Civic Initiative SDP and one of the few Kosovo Serb politicians to oppose the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista, was shot six times in the back on 16 January 2018 outside his party's headquarters in North Mitrovica.

The murder was preceded by a smear campaign during the 2017 local election campaign: his car was set on fire, and TV Pink broadcast a video against him. Who commissioned that video is still unknown.

The Pristina verdict

On 28 June 2024, the Basic Court in Pristina convicted four people at first instance of aiding the murder and sentenced them to a combined 22 years in prison. According to the court's written reasoning, as reported by the media, the murder was organised by a criminal group led by Milan Radoičić, who became vice-president of Srpska Lista a few months after the killing, and the group "acted with the support of the state of Serbia".

Radoičić has been neither charged nor convicted because he is on the run and Kosovo does not hold trials in absentia. He denies any connection to the murder.

The authorities defend Radoičić

The Serbian authorities have defended Radoičić from the start. In 2018, President Aleksandar Vučić said the Serbian state and police could say “with certainty” that Radoičić did not kill Ivanović and that he had “passed a polygraph”, and in 2019 he said Serbia believed it had the killer's name.

Interior ministers Nebojša Stefanović and Bratislav Gašić claimed that Serbs were not involved and that the state knows who the killer is. The Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo called the verdict “scandalous” and politically motivated.

An investigation without results

The Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime in Belgrade has been conducting a pre-investigation since the day of the murder, with no publicly known results. Belgrade and Pristina accuse each other of failing to share information. Eight years after the murder, it has still not been established who ordered the killing or who fired the shots.

In 2023, Radoičić claimed responsibility for the Banjska attack and, according to the Kosovo prosecutor, lives freely in Serbia.

Participants

Aleksandar Vučić: Claimed in 2018 that Radoičić did not kill Ivanović and had passed a polygraph, and in 2019 that Serbia believed it had the killer's name (commented on the case)
Milan Radoičić: According to the reasoning of the verdict in Pristina, he led the group that organised the murder and destroyed evidence; he is not being tried because he is in Serbia (responsible)
Zvonko Veselinović: According to the Kosovo indictment, he is one of the leaders of the group that planned the murder; according to a KRIK witness, he ordered the murder (responsible)
Nebojša Stefanović: In March 2019 he said the Serbian investigation had shown that Serbs were not involved in the murder (commented on the case)
Bratislav Gašić: In 2023 he said the state “knows exactly” who the killer is and had requested information from the German authorities (commented on the case)
Ana Brnabić: On 16 January 2026 she said Pristina was sabotaging the investigation and that the killer “is not of Serbian descent” (commented on the case)
Marko Đurić: He said a polygraph shows “unambiguously” whether someone is guilty, and that Radoičić is not guilty because he passed one (commented on the case)
Nela Kuburović: In January 2018 she said she had received no information about the murder from Pristina (commented on the case)
Saša Janković: He claimed Vučić had asked Ivanović whether he would cooperate with the Serb List, then listened to him without saying a word (oversight and the public)
Serb List: For more than half a year before the murder, Ivanović was demonised in media it is believed to control (responsible)
Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija: It called the Pristina verdict “scandalous”, politically motivated and handed down “without concrete evidence” (commented on the case)
Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia: On the prosecution's orders it took a statement from Radoičić; Minister Stefanović said in 2019 that Serbs were not involved, and Gašić said in 2023 that the state knows who the killer is (investigation and courts)
Security Information Agency: According to Vučić in July 2019, its data show that Radoičić did not take part in the murder (commented on the case)
TV Pink: A few months before the murder, it aired an ad and a video that targeted and discredited Ivanović (responsible)
Public Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime: It has been conducting pre-investigation proceedings since the day of the murder; as of 2024 no concrete results were known (investigation and courts)
Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo: In 2019 it indicted six people; Radoičić and Veselinović were named as leaders but were not charged (investigation and courts)
Basic Court in Pristina: At first instance it convicted four people and sentenced them to a combined 22 years; it did not find Radoičić guilty (investigation and courts)
KRIK: In 2022 it published the account of Boban Bogdanović, who said a friend had told him that the murder was ordered by Veselinović and organised by Radoičić (oversight and the public)

Victims and others harmed

Oliver Ivanović