Kosovo Serb Ivan Todosijevic acquitted of all charges

Photo: Tanjug/Rade Prelic

The president of the temporary authority of the municipality of Zvecan and former minister in the Kosovo government, Ivan Todosijevic, has been acquitted of all charges brought against him, by the decision of the Supreme Court in Pristina, his lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic confirmed for Kosovo Online.

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Vlajic said that the decision is final, that there is no longer any right of appeal.

"The Supreme Court made a decision and acquitted Ivan Todosijevic of all charges, and that decision is final, there is no longer any right of appeal and there will be no further trial, he is a free man," said Vlajic.

He added that what they have been saying from the start has finally been proven to be right, namely that everyone has the right to freedom of speech.

"The court finally recognized what we claimed from the beginning, that what Todosijevic was accused of is not a criminal offense but him exercising freedom of speech, opinion and expression and that we have the right to have an opinion about the events from the past, and that no one has the right to judge whether our opinion is correct, true or not", Vlajic added.

Ivan Todosijevic was sentenced in Pristina in the first instance at the end of 2019 to two years in prison for a statement he made during a commemoration marking the 20th anniversary of the start of the NATO bombing of Serbia. The ceremony was held in Zvecan, and he said at the time that the Racak case was a hoax used as an excuse to start the attacks.

The first-instance decision was later confirmed by the Court of Appeals in Pristina. Todosijevic's lawyers then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The panel of that court decided to order a retrial.

The judicial panel of the Basic Court in Pristina once again found Todosijevic guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison for his statement about Racak, assessing that he was inciting hatred, discord and intolerance.

(Telegraf.rs)