Hearings continue in the case of the explosion at the Ibër-Lepenc canal

The judicial process over the explosion that occurred at the Ibër-Lepenc canal in the village of Varagë, in the municipality of Zubin Potok in northern Kosovo, continued at the Basic Court in Prishtina, where the parties presented their opening statements.

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution had filed an indictment in December 2025 against brothers Dragisha and Jovan Viqentijeviq, as well as against Igor Dimoviq, on the criminal offenses of “endangering the constitutional order through the destruction or damage of public installations and equipment” and “committing a terrorist act.” Once again, all three defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges attributed to them.

Since their arrest following the November 29, 2024 explosion, Dragisha and Jovan Viqentijeviq have remained in detention, while Igor Dimoviq is being tried while free.

According to reporting by the portal “Betimi për Drejtësi,” which follows judicial proceedings in Kosovo, prosecutor Bekim Kodraliu said in his opening statement that experts from the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) examined soil found on the defendants’ boots and compared it with soil taken from the attack site.

As the prosecutor said, the forensic results show that the soil samples taken from the boots of Dragisha and Jovan Viqentijeviq match the characteristics of the soil from the crime scene.

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

Prosecutor Kodraliu also said that the Government of Serbia “played a key role in the preparation of this attack.”

“We will present concrete evidence regarding the 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,” Kodraliu said.

What did the defense say?

At the July 9 hearing, defense lawyers Nebojsha Vllajiq, Millosh Delleviq and Jellena Krivokapiq presented a series of objections to the indictment, which they described as “one-sided and unlawful.”

Lawyer Vllajiq stressed that the Criminal Procedure Code obliges the prosecutor to treat with equal care both the facts that favor the defendant and those that incriminate him. He added that the defense has proposed ten pieces of evidence.

After the hearing ended, Vllajiq told reporters that the Special Prosecution’s evidence is “suspect and one-sided,” arguing that the prosecutor had dismissed all of the evidence proposed by the defense.

Meanwhile, lawyer Millosh Delleviq said the indictment does not clearly specify exactly what the defendants are accused of, but instead uses, according to him, “collective formulations,” alleging that the Viqentijeviq brothers “together with other unknown persons placed the explosive substance, lit the fuse and activated the explosive.”

“We have to do something that is not our duty – 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 Delleviq, who is defending Dragisha Viqentijeviq.

Lawyer Jellena Krivokapiq, counsel for Igor Dimoviq, told reporters that the weapons found in her client’s apartment constitute “an old and nonfunctional collection.”

“We have informed them what evidence we will present, and I expect that the court, after evaluating all the evidence, will decide that the only fair and lawful verdict is an acquittal,” she said.

What does the indictment contain?

According to the Prosecution, Jovan and Dragisha Viqentijeviq are accused of, on November 29, 2024, at around 18:50, together with several other persons still unidentified, placing about 20 kilograms of explosive material for military use (TNT) inside the Ibër-Lepenc canal, “through a bag tied with rope to a concrete pillar, positioned in such a way as to cause serious damage to infrastructure critical for water and electricity supply.”

The damage caused by this explosion is estimated at around 400,000 euros.

The indictment says that during searches carried out by Kosovo Police at their homes, one in Zubin Potok and the other in the village of Prevlak in the same municipality, large quantities of combat weapons were found and confiscated.

The same document also states that Jovan Viqentijeviq, as a recruited member of Serbia’s Military Intelligence Service, “acted and assisted this service by collecting confidential information and documents, with the aim of using them as part of his illegal activities in the territory of Kosovo and handing them over to this service during meetings in Serbia.”

After the attack, at the home of the third accused, Igor Dimoviq, Kosovo Police found and seized three magazines, one bullet, one knife and several military uniforms. / REL