24/01/2024

One Witness Testifies Today, Zijin’s Trial on Air Pollution in Bor Resumes on April 17

By hearing one witness, the trial against the accused, the company “Serbia Zijin Cooper Bor,” and the responsible person continued today in the Basic Court in Bor. This is in accordance with the indictment of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Bor for the criminal offense of Environmental Pollution. The indictment relates to the air quality from June 2019 to November 2020, during which the air in Bor was significantly polluted. This led to the Regional Institute for Renewable Energy and the Environment filing a report to the prosecution, and after the indictment was filed, the trial began in December 2022.

For today’s hearing, witnesses who had already given statements to the prosecution and an expert were summoned. However, Judge Milanka Stojanović noted that environmental protection inspector Emila Tošić did not appear in court. Therefore, only Dušanka Miljković, the longtime head of the Environmental Protection Service at “Serbia Zijin Cooper Bor,” was heard. Among other things, she stated that, during exceedances of pollutants in the air, work on certain units was occasionally halted, and there were even complete production stoppages in the Smelter. However, when asked by the prosecutor when this occurred, she mentioned that she couldn’t remember.

Lawyer Ljubica Vukčević from RERI commented on today’s trial.

In addition to RERI’s lawyer, this legal process is being monitored by environmental associations in Bor and Zaječar as part of the project “Environmental Response in Timočka Krajina,” funded by the EU. Today’s hearing was also commented on by environmental activist Toplica Marjanović:

The continuation of the trial is scheduled for April 17, 2024, at 12:00 PM.

Source: Zamedia

This media content was produced within the project “Environmental response to mining expansion in Timočka Krajina” funded by the European Union, and implemented by the Association “Za Drinking Fountains”, the Association of Young Researchers Bor, Civic Library “Europe” Bor and Children’s Center Zaječar. The media content is entirely responsibility of these associations and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.