The president of the provisional authority of the municipality of Zvecan and the Kosovo government minister, Ivan Todosijevic, has been acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court in Pristina, his lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic confirmed for KoSSev.
In October last year, the judicial panel of the Basic Court in Pristina sentenced Ivan Todosijevic to a year in prison for „inciting hatred, discord, and intolerance.“
This sentence was later upheld by the Appellate Court. On March 28th, Todosijevic received a call to report to the detention center on April 3rd and begin serving sentence. However, the Basic Court in Pristina decided to postpone incarceration by two months.
At the time, his lawyer, Nebojsa Vlajic submitted a request for protection of legality, which the Supreme Court now accepted.
„They accepted the request for protection of legality I submitted two months ago and acquitted him of all charges,“ said the lawyer.
Vlajic revealed that he is very satisfied with this decision of the court, as it confirmed what he claimed from the very beginning of this process:
„That this is a matter of the right to have differing opinions, the freedom of opinion and expression, and that our opinions about historical events are not subject to verification as to whether they are true or not. We have the right to think whatever we want about the events of the past, regardless of whether the majority or the minority or anyone likes it.“
Once again Vlajic emphasizes that his client did not „advocate violence, nor hatred and anything similar.“
„The Supreme Court understood and recognized that,“ the lawyer pointed out.
The procedure against the local official was initiated during his term as the Kosovo Minister of Local Self-Government.
The Kosovo authorities charged Todosijevic with inciting and publicly spreading hatred, discord, and intolerance between peoples, ethnic and racial groups, due to a statement he made during the anniversary of the NATO bombing that the Racak case was fabricated and used as an excuse for the bombing.
In 2019, he was sentenced to two years in prison in Pristina.
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