The indictment for the assassination of Kosovo Serb political leader Oliver Ivanovic were handed to suspects and their lawyers on Friday.

According to initial statements from lawyers, the 40 page indictment does not provide evidence to link the six Serb suspects to the murder.  

Ivanovic was gunned down in front of his party offices in Kosovska Mitrovica in January 2018. The Special Prosecutor in Pristina indicted six Kosovo Serbs for involvement in the murder on December 2. The start of the trial has been scheduled for December 30 when the suspects are expected to enter pleas.  

Lawyer Mahmut Halimi said that the indictment only names people suspected of aiding unidentified killers, adding that it is senseless. He said the claims in the indictment do not confirm that the suspects aided the killers.  

The authorities in Belgrade and Pristina have traded accusations over both the killing and the subsequent investigation with prosecutors and the media in Pristina blaming the murder of the Kosovo Serb opposition politician on Serbs, a claim official Belgrade denies.