Gazivode demolition case goes to court on August 12

The Basic Court in Mitrovica will hear the case on August 12, and by then the Jezero motel and beach bar on the shore of Lake Gazivode will exist only on paper. The building came down on Thursday, July 30, at around 10.20 a.m., on the orders of the utility company Ibar-Lepenac, whose workers entered the complex with Kosovo police standing by. A day later, the Jaksic family lawyer Predrag Arsic set out for RTS what is left of the case in legal terms.

The owners are Jordan and Aleksandar Jaksic. Alongside Kosovo police, KFOR troops and EULEX representatives were present at the demolition.

A fifteen day notice with nothing attached

The eviction notice reached the family on July 14, giving them fifteen days to clear the complex and the beaches along Lake Gazivode. Arsic says the notice cited no legal basis at all for the company’s claim.

“It contained no reference to a single document that would show on what grounds the company claims ownership over the property of the Jaksic family.”

The deadline ran out at the end of July. The machinery arrived on the morning of July 30, and the demolition was filmed and published the same day.

What proceedings is the family running?

The Jaksic family opened two separate cases, both still live:

• a criminal complaint against Ibar-Lepenac executive director Faruk Mujka, over suspected threats, harassment and abuse of office
• a civil suit seeking an injunction barring demolition and any change to the site until the dispute is settled
• the hearing in that civil case, before the Basic Court in Mitrovica, scheduled for August 12

The injunction was requested precisely to stop the demolition. The demolition went ahead before the hearing at which the injunction is to be decided.

“All that is left to us is the civil case we are running before the Basic Court in Mitrovica.”

Arsic told the same programme he expects the pattern to repeat on other properties around the lake.

“I fear this case will become standard practice for the Pristina authorities in seizing Serb property.”

He added that, in his assessment, such measures are applied selectively, only where Serbs live.

What EULEX said

Asked about the demolition, EULEX replied that it was following the case and referred reporters to the European Union Office in Kosovo. The mission offered no further position. The embassies of Germany and the United Kingdom, along with EU representatives, have previously called for demolitions of this kind in northern Kosovo to stop.

Reaction in Belgrade and on the ground

The opposition Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) issued a statement on July 31 demanding a halt to all further demolitions, evictions and property seizures at Gazivode, with KFOR providing protection. In the same statement the movement told the authorities in Belgrade to hold back from announcing or applying reciprocal measures, arguing that such steps move the problem to another address instead of solving it.

As we reported when the bulldozers arrived, the Jezero motel is the 17th structure removed on the Gazivode shoreline in this wave. The previous sixteen were mostly holiday cottages and smaller buildings, and this is the first hospitality complex torn down while a court case over it was still running.

That shifts the centre of the story from the lakeshore to the courtroom. The criminal complaint against Mujka now rests with prosecutors. The civil case has a date: August 12, Basic Court in Mitrovica.