Thousands of people on Wednesday took part in a silent march in Belgrade in memory of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic murdered a year ago in a drive-by shooting..
A year on, his murder is still unsolved and his harsh criticism of Belgrade has made him a symbol of resistance among Serbian opposition groups.
During Wednesday's demonstration, part of a series of anti-government protests in Belgrade, marchers held candles and their mobile phones to create a sea of light in the heart of the city.
"Who killed Ivanovic?" asked one banner held aloft during the march.
"A year after his killing, we still do not know who killed him and who ordered his murder," said actor Branislav Trifunovic, one of the march's organisers.
The 64-year-old was hit by six bullets in January 2018 outside his party headquarters in the Kosovo city of Mitrovica, where the Ibar river draws a line between a mainly ethnic Albanian community in the south and Serbs in the north.
The bleak city is still a hotbed of tension 20 years after Kosovo broke away from Serbia in a separatist war, a move Belgrade has never accepted.
Like most of the Serb minority in Kosovo, Ivanovic did not recognise Kosovo's sovereignty.
But the articulate politician but was considered rare among his ilk for efforts to build bridges with Kosovo Albanians, whose language he also spoke.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia a decade after the 1998-1999 bloody war between them that claimed around 13,000 lives, but Belgrade still considers the territory as its southern province.
Ivanovic's strong criticism of Belgrade's policies made him a frequent target of the scathing campaigns of Serbia's pro-government tabloids, as well as of local political allies of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
But it also cast him as a symbol of resistance among Serbian opposition groups.
Thousands of people on Wednesday took part in a silent march in Belgrade in memory of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic murdered a year ago in a drive-by shooting..
A year on, his murder is still unsolved and his harsh criticism of Belgrade has made him a symbol of resistance among Serbian opposition groups.
During Wednesday’s demonstration, part of a series of anti-government protests in Belgrade, marchers held candles and their mobile phones to create a sea of light in the heart of the city.
“Who killed Ivanovic?” asked one banner held aloft during the march.
“A year after his killing, we still do not know who killed him and who ordered his murder,” said actor Branislav Trifunovic, one of the march’s organisers.
The 64-year-old was hit by six bullets in January 2018 outside his party headquarters in the Kosovo city of Mitrovica, where the Ibar river draws a line between a mainly ethnic Albanian community in the south and Serbs in the north.
The bleak city is still a hotbed of tension 20 years after Kosovo broke away from Serbia in a separatist war, a move Belgrade has never accepted.
Like most of the Serb minority in Kosovo, Ivanovic did not recognise Kosovo’s sovereignty.
But the articulate politician but was considered rare among his ilk for efforts to build bridges with Kosovo Albanians, whose language he also spoke.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia a decade after the 1998-1999 bloody war between them that claimed around 13,000 lives, but Belgrade still considers the territory as its southern province.
Ivanovic’s strong criticism of Belgrade’s policies made him a frequent target of the scathing campaigns of Serbia’s pro-government tabloids, as well as of local political allies of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
But it also cast him as a symbol of resistance among Serbian opposition groups.
