Filip Ivanovic Murder: Pretrial Hearing for Dj. Z., M. P.
According to Novosti, Dj. Z. admitted the killing and M. P. denied guilt. The hearing was closed to the public, and the main trial begins on December 9.
The Higher Court in Belgrade has held a pretrial hearing in the murder of Filip Ivanovic, a Montenegrin who was shot dead in the Belgrade Waterfront district on October 16, 2025. The accused are Dj. Z. and M. P. According to Novosti, the first defendant admitted the killing, while the second denied guilt. Tanjug reports only that both briefly entered pleas.
What happened at the hearing?
The hearing was closed to the public. Prosecutors and the defense gave opening statements, and both sides proposed the evidence to be presented at trial, along with the witnesses who will be heard.
Novosti reports that Dj. Z. also admitted the killing earlier, at the prosecutor’s office, but declined to answer questions at the time. M. P. is accused of helping him. He stayed silent during the investigation and denied guilt before the court. Neither man has been found guilty.
When does the main trial begin?
The main trial, which will be open to the public, is set for December 9, Tanjug reports. Novosti writes that Dj. Z. is expected to present his defense then and explain the circumstances that, as alleged, led him to do it.
How does Novosti describe the night of the killing?
The court has yet to verify the chronology reported by Novosti. As alleged, M. P. rented an apartment on Visegradska Street in Belgrade, where Dj. Z. arrived that evening. According to the same source, he waited in the apartment for two suitcases to be delivered, called a taxi and set off for Belgrade Waterfront at about 11 p.m.
There he met Ivanovic and handed over the suitcases. As Ivanovic turned to leave, Dj. Z. pulled out a pistol and fired several shots into his back, Novosti reports. He fled on foot along Hercegovacka Street, and police arrested him about 200 meters from the scene. Two pistols with erased serial numbers were found on him, one with a round in the chamber.
Who was Filip Ivanovic?
According to the Montenegrin security service, Ivanovic was allegedly a member of the so-called Skaljar clan. In Belgrade he stood trial on charges that he was to smuggle Lazar Tejic, a suspect in the killing of Bojan Mirkovic in the Belville district, across the border into Bosnia and Herzegovina near Loznica.
After four years in custody he was released to house arrest, from which he escaped. He was killed ten months later. Three weeks before him, his own brother Andrija was killed in Cetinje.
