Trial continues for the explosion in the Iber-Lepenc canal

2026-07-09 16:32:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the court session, where the parties presented their opening statements, the trial continued at the Basic Court in Pristina in the case of the explosion in the Ibër-Lepenc canal, in the village of Varage, in the municipality of Zubin Potok, in northern Kosovo.

The Kosovo Special Prosecution Office, in December 2025, filed an indictment against the brothers Dragisa and Jovan Viqentijevic, as well as Igor Dimovic, for the criminal offenses of “endangering the constitutional order through the destruction or damage of public installations and equipment” and “committing a terrorist act.” All three defendants again pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Two of the defendants, Dragisa and Jovan Viqentijevic, have been in custody since their arrest following the November 29, 2024, explosion, while Igor Dimovic is defending himself at large.

As reported by the "Oath for Justice" portal, which follows court proceedings in Kosovo, prosecutor Bekim Kodraliu emphasized during his opening speech that experts from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have analyzed the soil found on the defendants' boots and compared it with the soil found at the site where the attack occurred.

According to the prosecutor, the experts' conclusions show that soil samples taken from the boots of the two defendants, Dragisa and Jovan Viqentijevic, had the same characteristics as the soil found at the scene.

"It will be proven before you that the accused were direct participants in the terrorist attack on the Ibër-Lepenc canal," he said.

Prosecutor Kodraliu also stated that the Serbian Government "played a key role in the preparation of this attack."

"We will present concrete evidence regarding specific training and preparations, which, according to the evidence, took place at the military training ground called 'Pasulanske Livade' in the Republic of Serbia... All of this was part of the preparations for illegal activities against the state of the Republic of Kosovo," said Kodraliu.

What did the defense lawyers say?

At the July 9th hearing, defense attorneys Nebojša Vllaji?, Miloš Dellevi? and Jelena Krivokapi? presented a series of objections to the indictment, describing it as “one-sided and unlawful.”

Attorney Vllajic emphasized that the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that the prosecutor is obliged to prove with the same care both the facts that go in favor of the defendant and those that incriminate him, adding that the defense has proposed ten pieces of evidence.

After the hearing, lawyer Vllajic told reporters that the Special Prosecution's evidence is "suspicious and biased," as, according to him, the prosecutor has rejected all evidence proposed by the defense.

Meanwhile, lawyer Miloš Dellevi? said that it is not clear from the indictment what the defendants are specifically accused of, but that the Prosecution uses "collective formulations", claiming that the Viqentijevi? brothers "together with other unknown persons placed the explosive material, lit the fuse and activated the explosive".

“We have to do something that is not our job – to prove his innocence. We will prove this by presenting at least four witnesses who will confirm his alibi and at least two video recordings that will show where he was at the time of the explosion ,” said Dellevi?, who is defending Dragisa Vikentijevi?.

Lawyer Jelena Krivokapic, who is defending Igor Dimovic, told reporters that the weapons found in her client's home are "an old and dysfunctional collection."

"We have informed them of what evidence we will present and I expect the court, after evaluating all the evidence, to decide that the only fair and legal verdict is one of acquittal ," she said.

What else does the indictment say?

The prosecution charges Jovan and Dragisa Viqentijevic with having placed around 20 kilograms of explosives for military use (TNT) inside the Ibër-Lepenc canal, "through a bag tied with a rope to a concrete pole, placed in such a way as to cause serious damage to the critical infrastructure for the supply of water and electricity."

The value of the damage caused by the explosion is estimated to be around 400,000 euros. According to the indictment, during the raids carried out by the Kosovo Police in their homes – one in Zubin Potok and the other in the village of Prevlak in the same municipality – a considerable amount of weapons of war was found and seized.

The indictment also states that Jovan Viqentijevic, in his capacity as a recruited member of the Serbian Military Intelligence Service, "acted and assisted this service by collecting confidential information and documents, with the aim of using them in the context of his illegal activities in the territory of Kosovo and handing them over to this service during meetings in Serbia."

In the house of the third accused, Igor Dimovic, after the attack, three magazines, one cartridge, a knife and several military uniforms were found, which were seized by the Kosovo Police. /REL