The appeals court has dismissed charges against Radoslav Dragijević, reducing the number of suspects in the murder of the two-year-old girl. The case is further complicated by the unresolved killing of his son Dalibor.
The appeals court has dismissed charges against Radoslav Dragijević, who was accused by the prosecution of aiding in the murder of two-year-old Danka Ilić. This reduces the number of suspects in the crime at Banjsko Polje and adds another layer of controversy to the case.
According to the prosecution, Radoslav's son Dejan Dragijević has been identified as the direct perpetrator of the girl's murder, who went missing on March 26, 2024. His other son, Dalibor Dragijević, was charged with aiding the crime but was killed during his arrest at a police station in April 2024. Radoslav, along with Dalibor, was accused of knowing about the crime, failing to report it, and helping to hide the girl's body from a waste disposal site at a location that remains unknown to this day.
Radoslav Dragijević has maintained from the beginning that he had no connection to Danka Ilić's disappearance or murder. In an earlier interview, he recounted how the case effectively cost him his entire family. His wife Svetlana, who was the only one left free, died of a heart attack.
His son Dejan and his colleague Srđan Janković confessed to the murder, but later, after Dalibor's death, they claimed that the confessions were extracted from them through beatings. They also alleged that threats were made against Radoslav as well.
In addition to numerous shortcomings in the investigation of the girl's murder, the case of Dalibor Dragijević's killing remains unsolved. The case is currently with the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Niš, and according to Nova.rs, there is a noticeable lack of will to bring those responsible to justice.
The latest decision by the appeals court, announced on August 10, 2026, casts further doubt on the indictment against the suspects in the girl's murder, whose body has not been found more than two years after her disappearance.
