Category: News and Events

Deçan’s Poor Road Conditions for Pedestrians and Drivers

What are the duties of the future mayor of the Municipality of Deçan?

There are five candidates running for the position of Mayor of the Deçan Municipality in Kosovo’s upcoming local elections, set to take place on October 22.

The municipality’s 40 thousand residents expect solutions to the problems they are faced with, such as infrastructure and traffic within the city.

Pedestrians certainly expect free spaces on the newly constructed sidewalks so that they can walk freely. Drivers, moreover, need more public parking lots.

Huge responsibilities await the future government regarding solutions to sewage treatment, waste removal, and environment protection from degradation, especially regarding water.

The students of the village of Ratishë remain hopeful to moving to a new school building, and to no longer attend classes in wooden barracks.

These are some of the problems that Deçan residents will demand solutions for over the next local government’s four-year mandate, which has local budget 8 million euros per year. However, half of the budget goes to salaries and daily pays.

On BIRN Kosovo’s mayoral debate series #DebatPernime (#RealDebates), Deçan’s residents were granted the opportunity to be exposed to the promises and governing programs of the five mayoral candidates.

Infrastructure and Urbanization

Because the road that runs through Decan is used to connect Peja to Gjakova, the center of Decan becomes clogged every summer with high volumes of traffic. Citizens must wait in traffic for extended periods of time even to travel one kilometer.

There have been talks of the possibility to construct a new transit road to reduce traffic, but no actions have been taken thus far.

Meanwhile, Deçan needs public parking lots; vehicles parked on sidewalks create problems for residents to walk freely.

Some of the roads that were constructed years ago, such as the streets in the Llukë and Irzniq villages, also require further work and repairs.

None of the 37 villages of this municipality possesses a regulatory plan, though the city has drafted a plan.

In the past four years, the municipality has identified 45 illegal constructions, while only within this year, it has granted seven licenses for construction.

Environment and water

The municipality of Deçan faces an enormous waste problem. Around 30 illegal waste deposits are located within different areas of the municipality.

Three weeks before elections, the municipality began cleaning up its wastes sites.

Garbage is tossed into public spaces in most of Decan’s villages and neighborhoods, and the land remains littered for long periods of time.

 

There were also problems with the workers of the cleaning company “Hygiene,” who several times have striked due to working conditions, and because they did not get paid.

Illegal forest cutting in Deçan’s mountains continues to be an issue, while rivers are contaminated by sewage. Though the city has drinking water, there is a lack of drinking water within the municipality’s villages.

The workings in the Hydro central have caused damage to Deçan’s valley since the beginning of its implementation. The riverbed, which is shrinking day by day, has been considerably damaged.

The water supply network is extended to most of the villages of this municipality, except for three: two villages in Ratisha, and Maznik. For three years, the residents did not receive water bills, and as such, did not pay for water at all. Apart from that, there has been major water misuse. A few villages complain that there is an issue with their water supply network, considering the existing low water pressure and water cuts.

Health and social welfare

The municipality of Deçan lacks an emergency center, causing residents to travel to Peja for emergency health services.

Medical family centers in Isniq, Strellc, Prapaqan, Gramaqel e Ratishë require renovation.

When it comes to patient care, the municipality has failed to purchase a transportation vehicle for patients diagnosed with hemodialysis.

There are 30 families across the municipality of Deçan that have applied for housing, while the municipality has not allocated any social housing yet.

Education

In addition to allegations that Deçan’s education system is politicized, the municipality also has issues with school infrastructure, especially with schools located in the villages of Lumbardhë, Maznik and Ratishë.

In Ratishë, a number of students attend classes in wooden barracks and severely inhumane conditions. These school buildings are damaged, and the students are learning in poor environmental conditions. Even the sports grounds remain poorly equipped.

There are no labs in the schools in the whole municipality, while 16 schools work in two shifts, and only six of them are equipped with physical education halls.

When it comes to children care under the age of six, Deçan has only one kindergarten across the whole municipality in public-private partnership, while the municipality’s needs are much greater.

 

Tourism

One of Deçan’s assets is its beautiful natural environment and the potential to attract tourism investments. However, a large part of the zone where tourism may further develop is managed by the Decani Monastery.

Deçan’s forests are also an asset, but the best forestry has damaged areas, specifically due to cutting and habitat destruction from hydro-centers and river pollution.

The Old Troubles of the New Municipality

What problems will the Mayor of Hani I Elezit confront after October 22?

Two men and one woman have entered the race to take over the governance of a small municipality in eastern Kosovo, which despite the fact that it has separated from Kacanik in administrative senses, still remains dependent on it for providing some essential services in the fields of health and education.

Hani I Elezit, a municipality that has almost 10 thousand residents, is still facing problems of all kind.

This municipality, which was established a decade ago, has on the top of its list of problems the need for a regular supply of drinking water.

Residents of Hani I Elezit also complain about the illegal waste disposals and the sewage odor.

BIRN Kosovo’s mayoral debate series #DebatPernime (#RealDebates) has uncovered the major issues residents face, including an investigation by the KALLXO.com team on the state of the Sitnica River in the middle of Mayor Rufki Suma’s mandate. The River continues to be contaminated by the dumping of waste and the negligence to clean it.

The main Family Medicine center does not have a director and it works under the management of the head-nurse.

In Hani I Elezit, there are neither gynecologists nor dentists, while in order to receive such services, the citizens of this municipality have to travel to Kacanik and Ferizaj.

The bus station for the municipality has remained only a dream, while after several requests for a kindergarten, the mayor decided to find a location to start building it by the end of his mandate, only a few days before the October 22 elections.

In order to have all these problems solved, the municipality of Hani I Elezit has 740 thousand euros for capital investments, while the remaining part of the budget is allocated to wages and salaries.

One of the mayoral candidates for municipality in the upcoming elections a PDK member who in 2014 was sentenced to six months in prison because he was charged with stealing votes.

Clean water, the wish of every citizen of Hani I Elezit

The municipality of Hani I Elezit has had water problems since after the Kosovo War. When Hani I Elezit became a municipality, the citizens wished nothing more than to have the water issue solved, since the water that they had was not useful for anything.

The residents of Hani I Elezit, despite the investments, continue to have problems with the water supply network. Only the city of Hani I Elezit, the New Street, a part of the village Seqishta, and a part of the village Goranca have access to the water supply system.

The city has the water factory in the village of Dimica, which was built with the help of donors. One of the conditions of the agreement was the Regional Water and Canalization Company RWCC (KRUK) “Bifurcation” vowed to manage Hani i Elezit’s water supply system.

This has not happened as of today.

According to KRMU “Bifurcation”, the central level is to be blamed for the mismanagement of water in Hani I Elezit.

The factory in the village Dimica is built as an investment between CDI (Community Development Initiatives) and the municipality of Hani I Elezit, with the cement factory Sharrcem as a partner. The project cost around 450,000 euros, and the factory was launched in 2010. Around 230,000 euros were donated by CDI, 120,000 from the municipality, and 100,000 from Sharrcem.

“Long-term” waste

The village of Dimica remains one of the villages that have become a pit for waste disposals, as no waste has been removed since the middle of the mandate, when our team organized a debate with Mayor Suma. Also, the Lepenc River is still suffering from issues with waste disposals. The sewage in Hani I Elezit contaminates the municipality’s lakes.

The municipality of Hani I Elezit has established local companies for managing waste, and based on their management plans for years 2016-2021, according to Mayor Suma, “they are obliged to eliminate all illegal waste disposals by including the cover of the entire territory for collecting waste from NPL cleaning company”.

The citizens of Hani I Elezit continue to have problems caused by waste since it passes through lakes, causing a strong odor.

The bus station, a dream for the citizens

Hani I Elezit has a regulative plan only in two areas, the center and the park, while it has lack of regulating plans in all villages. There are 1,100 illegal constructions in this city. An investigation by the GAP institute shows that the municipality has problems with parking lots in many areas, while it doesn’t have a space for bus stations.

The Municipality without a Kindergarten

Hani I Elezi does not have kindergartens and the youth can only attend courses in one concentration, which is the general concentration in high schools. The municipality does not have a professional school and the students that are willing to attend a professional high school have to travel to Kacanik. KALLXO.com’s investigation reveals that the schools in Hani I Elezit do not have labs and they also lack spaces for sport activities.

The kindergarten seems to be on its way after numerous requests from citizens.

KALLXO.com reported that by the middle of the mandate, the municipality of Hani I Elezit still did not have a kindergarten.

According to the mayor, there was no location to build the kindergarten. But a few days before ending his mandate, Rufki Suma found a location for the kindergarten and now it is being built.

The Main Center for Family Medicine, three years without a director

The Main Center for Family Medicine (MCFM) in Hani I Elezit functions but it does not have a director. Hani I Elezit does not have a cardiologists, a gynecologists, or a dentist.

The MCFM in Hani I Elezit is still managed by Besiana Bushi-Thaci, the niece of Mayor Rufki Suma.

In order to fulfill their needs for a cardiologist, a gynecologist, or a dentist, the citizens need to travel to Ferizaj.

A small budget and high debt

Hani I Elezit has very few revenues, while the General Auditor has found that the municipality has bailed out 6,500 euros of debts to businesses, which rent spaces from the municipality.

This bailout is contrary to the law, since the law on bailing out debts does not foresee that the municipalities should bail out debts of rent.

Also, the auditor found that the municipality has not punished the businesses that owe the municipality up to 78,000 euros debts.

According to the auditor, the Director of Urbanization has taken an independent act related to debts of tenants. The audit found that the rent debts have been bailed out for 14 tenants of municipality properties worth in total 6,615 euros, based on the law on bailouts. According to the auditor, this law does not foresee the bailout for rents. The bailout for rents without legal basis is contrary to the law and causes financial losses for the municipality.

 

 

 

 

BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova’s Complaints Result in 18,000 Euros in Fines for Political Entities

On October 13th, 2017, Kosovo’s Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) allocated fines worth 18 thousand euros for four candidates and a political entity as a result of BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova’s written complaints for alleged violations of the Law on Elections during the local electoral campaign.

As a result of the panel’s decision, Alternativa’s candidate vying for the position of Gjakova Mayor, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, has received two fines adding up to 6,500 euros (one fine for 3,500 euros, and the other for 3,000); The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo’s, AAK, candidate, Lutfi Bilalli, vying for the position of Vushtrri Mayor, was fined with 3,500 euros; the mayoral candidate of Vetëvendosje, Shpend Ahmeti, running for Prishtina, received a fine of 2,000 euros; The Democratic League of Kosovo’s, LDK, mayoral candidate for Podujeva, Agim Veliu, was fined with the amount of 3,000 euros; and finally, AAK, as a political entity, received a fine of 3,000 euros.

KALLXO.com will report on each decision individually in the coming days.

In the following link, you may find some of the decisions in favor of BIRN and Internews Kosova’s complaints, during the Octotber 22nd electoral campaign:

http://kallxo.com/gazmend-muhaxheri-denohet-nga-pzap/

 

 

A History of Problems in Kosovo’s Historic City

What are the responsibilities of Prizren’s future mayor?

There are 10 candidates vying for mayor of the second biggest municipality in Kosovo, Prizren, which has 178,112 residents.

 

Whoever wins the citizens’ trust on October 22 (or four weeks later, after run-off elections) will come into office with plenty of work and obligations. At the minimum, the community expect a Prizren Mayor who is committed to transparency and responsibility towards citizens.

In addition to issues around transparency, Prizren faces a pertinent illegal construction issue, threatening the Historic Zone.

The Prizren Municipality, commonly referred to as Kosovo’s ‘cultural heritage gem’ and which receives the tourists annually, lacks parking spaces.

Despite the lack of parking lots, Prizren is not lacking in illegal waste disposals. And despite the city having water resources, citizens continue to face problems with drinkable water.

Kosovo’s second biggest municipality does not even have public kindergartens.

In order to solve these problems, the municipality has a budget of 14.9 million euros annually to spend on capital investments.

During this election cycle, Prizrenis had the chance to attend the BIRN-produced local election debates DebatPernime (Real Debates) and hear real solutions for the municipality’s problems delivered by the mayoral candidates.

All potential mayoral candidates were present during the debate, except for Zafir Berisha from Nisma, and Sencar Karamuço from KDTP.

 ‘Modern’ constructions in the Historic Zone

For 18 years now, Prizren has had issues in maintaining the Historic Zone of the City of Prizren.

The phenomenon of illegal constructions, over-constructions, usurpations, have increased during the past years. And so has the number of indictments related to construction crimes.

Prizren’s Shatervan square area is officially named by Kosovo as the First Zone of the Historic Center of Prizren. However, the given area has now been transformed into the first business zone, flourishing with actors who disregard the law.

BIRN’s Life in Kosovo magazine discovered that many businesses that are located in the First Zone of the Historic Center in Prizren have legal issues.

There are businesses that have let their licenses expire from the municipal authorities, and also hotels that were built without the required permission. The powerful businessmen of the city have defeated the municipal authorities, who have shown no will to implement urban order in the Historic Zone.

Life in Kosovo has completed an extensive investigation on specific cases regarding illegal constructions within the first zone of the city, which is protected by the Law on the Historic Center of Prizren. The prosecution in Prizren had started investigations on these cases.

During 2017, the first zone of the historic center has continued to be degraded, even by the director of Inspection in Prizren, Bujar Hasani, who, in September this year, as a result of the investigation by Life in Kosovo, received an indictment from the prosecution on suspicions regarding usurpations and misuse of official duty.

Cultural heritage in the historic zone is constantly being destroyed. The Prizren Municipality’s failure to intervene on this issue even resulted in the death of a three-year-old girl who in 2016 was found in the rubble of an old house in the historic zone.

Sewage contaminates the Lumbardh and Dri Rivers

Prizren city and some villages in the zone of Zhupa, including some factories in the area, are contaminating the Lumbardh River with sewage. In fact, Prizren’s city center is contaminating waters right in front of the tourist zone, near Shatervan’s Bridge of Gur.

Water contamination from sewage is also an issue for the Dri River.

In the past, the Nashec was popular with tourists, and several Prizrenis built villas there. But nowadays, the village lacks tourism, and the residents suffer with poor living conditions due to the sewage that pollutes the Dri River. Residents complain that the contamination has damaged their properties.

Problems with the water supply

Although Prizren has sufficient water resources, the water supply remains one of the main problems for the municipality, and the citizens continue to face water cuts.

The low quality of the water supply is a result of the mismanagement of water. According to data from the South Hydro-region, there are huge technical and physical issues with the water network due to its old tubing.

Some of the city’s neighborhoods have difficulties with water supply due to their geographical locations. The neighborhoods suffering the most are Dardania, Kurilla, Bazhdarhane, and Tusuz, including the Hasi zone.

Illegal waste disposals

The waste disposal system, which was launched a few years ago in Zhur, envisaged for solid waste dumping purposes, has been transformed into a chaotic system of irresponsible actors dumping animal remains. This has created the spread of toxic odors and environmental pollution.

The waste disposal located along the Prizren-Dragash road infects residents and passersby with a horrible stench year-round.

According to a Life in Kosovo investigation, butchery owners dump their waste into the system, and the municipal inspectorate has taken no measures against this.

A lack of parking

Prizren is widely popular with tourists. The city’s lack of parking spaces is especially evident in the summer, when the diaspora comes home to visit and when locals and internationals flock to the city for the documentary film festival Dokufest.

Occasionally, the municipality opens up one side of the road for paid parking, but this has been a problematic solution.

The lack of parking lots is a constant problem for Prizren, and it prevents visitors and residents from walking freely on sidewalks, which are overburdened with cars.

 

Municipal taxes

Municipal taxes are one of the main sources that fill the municipality treasure, however, based on the auditor’s report and a report by the GAP institute, Prizren has failed to collect them.

The municipality, based on its planned own means, has managed to collect only 66 per cent of the municipal taxes . The municipality did not manage to finish the verification of 1/3 of the real estate as required by the law on taxing of real estate and its administrative instruction in power.

The municipality has collected only 34.99 per cent of the revenues from property taxes.

In 2016, the municipality planned to use 1,350,000 euros for the given properties on rent, while it managed to collect only 501,328 euros, or 37 per cent.

By the end of 2016, the total debt of the municipality reached 15,567,347 euros.

The main source of debt regards the collection of property taxes worth of 6,808,003 euros; next is the taxes collected from business activities, worth of 5,753,532 euros; then the revenues collected from the collection and management of waste, worth of 1,859,235 euros, followed by markets on rent worth of 455,577 euros, and then other tariffs worth of 691,000 euros.

 

These are a handful of the problems that Prizrenis expect smart solutions for over the next four-year mayoral mandate.

But let us not forget the need for equal gender representation: during the current mandate, the municipal governance had only two women directors, which is far from what the law on equal gender representation within institutions requires which states that 50 per cent of representation should include women.

Most of the candidates vying for mayor of the municipality of Prizren have promised during RealDebates that they will respect the required quota by law.

Ferizaj’s ‘Boxcars’ of Problems

What will Ferizaj’s next mayor face on the first day in office?

BIRN Kosovo’s mayoral debate series #DebatPernime (#RealDebates) has revealed many issues faced by the Municipality of Ferizaj, from waste management to preventing violent extremism.

Out of 45 villages in Ferizaj, 31 have problems with sewage.

Also, field research revealed that Ferizaj, one of Kosovo’s most populated cities, has only 130 public parking spaces. Furthermore, the municipality’s railroad tracks, where two people died this year, poses a danger to citizens.

BIRN investigations also revealed a construction and urban planning crisis in Ferizaj; the city has over 10 thousand illegal constructions.

Illegal constructions

In 2014, a decision was taken to initiate the amending and supplementing the regulatory plans, with an illegal basis, specifically focused on the examination of the construction coefficient for zones I and VIII. This was followed by consecutive legal, substantive and procedural violations, including more serious violations, such as the falsification of official documents.

Lawsuits regarding compensation for investors whose construction permits have been suspended due to the contestibility of the revision process

The Ferizaj Mayor’s failure to intervene in a timely manner and to hold those responsible for illegal constructions accountable, has risked Ferizaj hundreds of thousands of euros of its budget, due to the deposit of the lawsuits regarding compensation for investors. These investors’ construction permits have been suspended due to the contestability of the revision process.
Investigations by corruption reporting platform KALLXO.com reveal that the

Municipality of Ferizaj did not considered the recommendations submitted by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and the Ministry of Local Government Administration, and the decision of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, to reinstate the decision to initiate the revision of the regulatory plan for zones I and VIII, including the regulatory plans to be drafted, revised and harmonized in compliance with the given procedures, terminology and content envisaged by the Law on Spatial Planning.

Road safety

During 2017, three accidents occurred near the railroad tracks that run through the center of Ferizaj, two of which were fatal.

A KALLXO.com investigation shows that there is a lack of road safety signals in the area where the fatalities occurred, and the responsibility for this has continuously been transferred to and from the municipality to the public enterprise INFRAKOS.

The municipality casts the responsibility to INFRAKOS, the public enterprise for railroad management, while the latter holds the municipality responsible for the lack of road safety signs and traffic barriers.

Mayor Muharrem Svarqa, during the election campaign of November 2013, promised to take measures to prevent accidents near the railroad. However, over the past four years, the problem has not been addressed.

Field research has also revealed that Ferizaj’s lack of parking lots within the city is one of the many issues residents take issue with.

Based on KALLXO.com’s findings, the Municipality of Ferizaj ranks amongst the top for municipalties that lack sufficient parking spaces. Ferizaj has only two parking lots, with a total capacity of 130 cars.

Within the city, there are several plots of land that citizens have turned into private parking lots. The parking mayhem has given the city a bad image, especially because in some areas, sidewalks are used for parking

Water and sewage issues

Ferizaj has a major issue with drinking water availability, especially evident in dozens of the municipality’s villages. Many villages lack a water-supply network, and several have no water supply despite investments in this area.

Moreover, investigations reveal that the drinking water supply in the city remains a major issue due to water cuts, especially during summer.

More than 20 per cent of Ferizaj lacks drinking water. The specific zones currently without water supply are: Greme, Rakaj, Prelez i Jerlive, Prelez i Muhaxherëve, Papaz, Sazli, Bibaj, Sojevë, Zllatar, Dardani, Burnik, and Jezerc. In some of these villages, investments into the water supply began in 2011, but as of this year, the network has not been completed.

 

The municipality of Ferizaj lacks sewage collectors, and most of the waste is poured into rivers. In the Mirosalë village, sewage is poured close to some houses, private properties, and agricultural lands. There are no wastewater treatment plants, and none of the existing collectors clean the water in compliance with the given standards.

Education and health

 

Field research reveals that some of Ferizaj’s villages, such as Nerodime and Koshare, lack of health centers. Residents of the given villages, in order to receive basic health services, have to travel to the city. The distance between Koshare and Ferizaj is 7 kilometers, while Nerodime to Ferizaj is 4-6 kilometers.

Almost all schools operate in two shifts, except two other schools currently working in one.

Research has also highlights connections between employment and politics. Specifically, Arta Tahiri-Beqa, at the beginning of the mandate, was a Vetevendosje Assembly member who then joined LDK, and this year, she was appointed as the director of the lower secondary school “Ramadan Rexhepi” in the Sojevë village.

Economy

Ferizaj has 20 thousand residents more than Gjilan, however, its revenues remain the same.

During 2016, Ferizaj’s budget was only 3 million euros, while the government allocated a grant to this municipality of 21.3 million euros. Based on the gathered data, the municipality of Ferizaj itself may only provide 11 per cent of the budget, while 89 per cent is received as grants from Kosovo’s central government.

Ferizaj’s economy is known for its wood industry. Investigations show that in the municipality, taxes are used as bait for elections. Taxes were cut during the period when Mayor Aliu, from PDK, was in power. When Svarqa became the Mayor, taxes were once again restored to the previous amount. At the end of the mandate, Svarqa asked the Municipal Assembly to cut taxes, but the Assembly, supported by PDK, removed them completely.

Waste

Ferizaj has around 40 illegal waste deposits, while investigations shows that currently, 10 of them are located within the urban zones, which have no legal landfill. The investigation further shows that the municipality has not yet determined the location where the waste dump will be constructed.

Consequently, in villages and areas within the city, our researchers have identified waste dumping areas during their investigations. Such waste dumping occurs in the area called “The Eagle Circle”.

Preventing violent extremism

BIRN’s investigation shows that Ferizaj is amongst the municipalities dealing most with preventing violent extremism and indoctrination of young people by terrorist organizations.

Seven people from Ferizaj are in prison on charges of recruiting members of terrorist organizations or partaking in the war in Syria.

Investigations further reveal that the Municipality of Ferizaj, despite possessing several competences regarding the de-radicalization and integration of people previously involved in foreign conflicts, has done nothing in this regard.

The findings show that the municipality has failed to ensure that the centers for social work and health, the municipality’s psychologists, and the directorate of youth and sports are able to address issues faced by these individuals after their return from foreign conflict zones.

BIRN Hub Explores Media Development Opportunities in Moldova

BIRN Hub representatives discussed media development and capacity development opportunities and partnerships on October 4 and 5 with journalists, media organisations, donors and international organisations in Chisinau, Moldova.

The media organisations included the Centre for Independent Journalism, The Association of Independent Media, the Higher School of Journalism and the Centre for Journalistic Investigations.

“With some of the Balkan countries having been through similar transitions, BIRN Hub believes that Moldova can be seen in this context in cultural terms too, not just in terms of the former Soviet space”, Petar Subotin, BIRN Regional Development Officer explained.

Moldova has been going through important political, geopolitical and social developments over the past decade, which need to be properly understood by an international audience in a regional context.

The country is on a path towards EU accession, but it is also troubled by a frozen conflict with the separatist authorities in Transnistria and faces large-scale youth migration, while media freedom is under increasing threat.

Moldova is under-reported in the international English-language media and BIRN, by partnering with local media organisations and supporting in-depth and investigative reporting, wants to give it more coverage, and to allow international and regional audiences to understand the country’s dynamics.

Indictment Raised Against Judge Involved in Bribery

An indictment was raised against a judge in Decan on October 11 following a BIRN and Internews Kosova investigation into an alleged bribery case.

On January 15, 2017, BIRN’s televised programme Justice in Kosovo and the anti-corruption platform KALLXO.com published an investigation on alleged criminal offences that took place at the Deçan Municipality Basic Court. The investigation included research by KALLXO.com’s team, which presented sufficient evidence that Judge Safete Tolaj was involved in an act of bribery. As a result of the research, Justice in Kosovo published a video reportage that detailed how the situation developed. After the show’s publication, measures were taken by the relevant rule of law institutions, leading to judge Tolaj’s dismissal.

A Kosovo citizen, Berat Kelmendi, reported the case to KALLXO.com through an online report. Kelmendi reported the case after experiencing longer than usual resolution times regarding a case at the Deçan Basic Court. As the court proceedings were ongoing, the judge’s son, Fisnik Tolaj, approached Kelmendi and offered to speed up his case in exchange for 20,000 euros. Kelmendi secretly recorded all of the bribery negotiation talks. Justice in Kosovo and KALLXO.com, after hearing Kelmendi’s story, gathered sufficient material to produce a show on the matter.

Rule of law institutions, sixteen hours after the first part of the story was published, initiated an investigation. The State Basic Prosecution invited KALLXO.com to cooperate. According to the prosecution, investigation into corruption suspicions began in January 2017, and Tolaj was charged with abuse of office and other criminal offenses. Tolaj’s son was also charged with fraud, exertion of influence, forgery, and other criminal offenses, including illegal possession and use of weapons. In the aftermath of ten-month period, on October 11, KALLXO.com reported that an indictment was raised against Judge Safete Tolaj. The department for Heavy Crimes of the Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Peja raised an indictment against the judge under the charge of misuse of official duty or official authority. In order to fight corruption and organized crime, Justice in Kosovo and KALLXO.com will continue to follow similar cases.

BIRN’s Work Presented to Students in Washington

BIRN Programme Manager and investigative reporter Jelena Cosic gave a presentation to students at the American University in Washington DC on October 9 about BIRN’s work and achievements.

During her visit to Washington as part of the Digital Communication Network programme, Cosic was invited by renowned investigative reporter Chuck Lewis and the managing editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop, Lynne Perri, to talk about BIRN’s investigative projects.

Cosic presented investigations from the Making a Killing series, and spoke about the importance of investigative reporting and BIRN’s work in general.

She held two sessions for students from two different classes, the history of investigative reporting led by Perri and international investigative reporting led by Lewis.

The Digital Communication Network exchange programme is sponsored by the US Department of State and coordinated by World Learning. Cosic is the Serbian representative among 16 media professionals from Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Internews Kosova and BIRN Kosovo Target Youth with Lectures on Preventing Violent Extremism

On October 3 and 4, 2017, BIRN Kosovo and its partner Internews Kosova organized four lectures for high school students in Kosovo to discuss the ills that ideologies of violent extremism cause.

These lectures were part of a project titled “Expand Youth Participation to Counter Violent Extremism,” given in cooperation between ATRC (Advocacy Training and Research Center) and Internews Kosova.

The lectures tackled a general overview of the current situation and how ideologies of violent extremism have impacted Kosovo’s youth. Two of the lectures were held in Prishtina, while two others were held in Kaçanik and Mitrovica.

Kreshnik Gashi, managing editor of BIRN and Internews Kosova, moderated the discussions and also spoke about how we can prevent the manipulation of youth with violent extremism ideologies on social media networks. Gashi has produced two televised programmes for Justice in Kosovo about the failures of de-radicalization programs in Kosovo and has provided recommendations to relevant institutions on de-radicalization measures.

Along with Gashi, a representative from the Kosovo Police was present to offer his insights on preventing violent extremism. Florim Shatrolli, from the Anti-Corruption Unit, lectured on the role of the Kosovo Police in preventing violent extremism. He explained the need for rapid response and educating the public to report violent extremism cases.

These activities were held with the purpose of urging Kosovo’s youth to work towards their career goals, and not to become influenced by ideologies telling young people to join conflicts in the Middle East.

Preventing violent extremism has been an important topic in Kosovo over the past several years, and BIRN and Internews Kosova remain committed to mitigating the influence of extremism, and educating Kosovo’s youth about countering violent extremism.

Municipalities Uncovered: New BIRN Macedonia Database Published

Ahead of the October 15 local elections, BIRN Macedonia published ‘Municipalities Uncovered’, a database on the promises and accomplishments of mayors in the 80 Macedonian municipalities plus the capital, Skopje, during their current mandate.

http://opstini.prizma.mk

The results show that mayors delivered less than half the capital projects they planned during their four years in office.

The BIRN database, published on September 20, gives Macedonians a more accurate understanding of what projects were promised and realised between the last local elections in 2013 and the upcoming vote on October 15.

Many of the current mayors are competing for a new term.

The database aims to remind the politicians about their past promises and help voters identify those that they did not deliver.

The database also analyses the municipal budgets for capital investments as well as their overall budgets from 2013 to 2016.

It shows that over the four-year period, the mayors pledged to spend a total of 762 million euros on such projects but actually invested less than half of that – 336 million euros. This was 46.7 per cent of the initially planned budget for capital investments.

The database presents data on how much the municipalities spent on capital investments per capita ranging from 1,170 euros per capita over this period in Novaci, 673.4 euros in Makedonska Kamenica, to the three rural, mainly ethnic Albanian municipalities, Aracinovo and Saraj, which spent the least money on infrastructure.

Aracinovo holds the worst record, having spent only 24.7 euros per capita.

The local election campaign in Macedonia started on September 25.

A tough political battle is expected, pitting the now governing Social Democrats, SDSM, against the right-wing VMRO DPMNE party, which held power nationally for 11 years and was ousted in May.