Tag: Kosovo

In this program, major stories of 2013 were broadcasted and investigated by “Justice in Kosovo”.

The first story was about buying of votes in the Pasjan Village where people showed how they were contacted by different parties, offering them money to get their vote.

After the program was aired, the police reported that they arrested a Serbian guy who was suspected for buying votes.

In some cases, Prizren announced the winners of the bid before the legal deadlines were fulfilled.

After the program was aired, Alban Susuri the head of Procurement Office of Prizren was arrested and is under investigation.

Elections in the Judicial Council of Kosovo where another story broadcasted, “Justice in Kosovo” followed the debate on the election process of the head of Judicial Council.

Sali Mekaj member of the Judicial Council sent a letter during the session of the Council when it was stated that the election process was followed with a lot of irregularities that make this process illegal.

Enver Peci head of the Judicial Council said that he has no comment on Sali Meka’s complaint, and that he respects the decision taken by all members of the Council announcing Meka’s complaint invalid. Enver Peci was elected head of the Judicial Council in this election.

The next story is about the massacre of Krusha Justice in Kosovo reported on March 2013 about the investigation on war crimes in the village of Krusha.

Cezary Michalczuk the prosecutor of EULEX said that they are in tight collaboration with the Prosecution Office in the Republic of Serbia to get more evidences, also with the Tribunal of Hague and after evaluating all the evidences they will release arrest warrant for suspected people.

“Justice in Kosovo” investigated the story of Medicus hospital who was under suspicion for organ trafficking

The trial of Bajrush Xhemali was another case that occurred in 2013.There was debate on the Judicial Council of Kosovo regarding the verdict for judgment released by the Constitutional Court. Valdete Daka judge in the Supreme Court said that after this action the Constitutional Court became a fourth instance court. Enver Peci head of the Judicial Council said that we cannot judge the verdicts of other courts, in this case it was the Constitutional court.

“Justice in Kosovo” also followed the case of the law for amnesty. On the list compiled by the correction service there are names of people who avoided taxes, charged for murder, etc.

Fejzullah Hasani Head of the Supreme Court said that the Amnesty law presents a lot of dilemmas in the way that it should be implemented, and the correction services sends in the list names of people that have done penal offenses that are not included in the categories defined in the law for amnesty.

In the last part, there is a case that showed how people under accusation escaped the police and changed their names. After reporting the case of Enver Aliu who changed his name in the Vit municipality after the Macedonian Police were searching for him, responsible institutions started monitoring the backgrounds of those who asked for name changes.

The program continues with police actions on the narco trafficking in Shkabaj village municipalities of Gjakova, Pishtina.

The invasion of the Prizren police station by only one person raises serious questions about the institution’s preparedness to deal with public security.Security experts told Justice in Kosovo that the police should increase the level of security around its premises.

The armed perpetrator, Shefki Hallaqi, known as “Sheki,” entered the police station “Alfa”in the early in the morning. He held hostage all the people within the station hostage.After shooting several times with his Kalashnikov inside the station, Hallaqi left without being stopped, even though 6 officials of the police were inside the station.

After the policemen couldn’t manage to stop him, he decided to surrender himself the next day, and was detained.This incident raised many question regarding the level of security of Police institutions.

Security expert Nuredin Ibishi said that police should take immediate precautions to prevent such incidents.
According him, at the same time that Kosovo Police is involved in the war against terrorism and organized crime, they should also focus on improving security measures.

“A special law should be passed specifying particular measures for the security of objects of particular relevance” said Ibishi.
But according Ibishi, until the release of this special law, Kosovo Police should take immediate precautions to avoid the risk of another episode like the one in Prizren.

“The policeman that will be appointed to protect the objects should be well prepared and properly equipped,” he added.
But Kosovo Police, besides suspending the 6 police officials who didn’t manage to control the armed assailant, has not taken any other security measures.

This was confirmed by the vice director of the police, Naim Rexha, who told Justice in Kosovo that the measurements taken regarding this case were suspending the 6 police officials that were working that day. Rexha maintains that no further measures are needed.

Minister of Defense Bajram Rexhepi the public prosecutor is responsible for the security breach, because one night before the attack, he had been handcuffed.
Hallaqi had been arrested 10 times before that, suspected for penal offenses, attacking officials, and causing minor bodily harm.

According official records, several hours before attacking the police station Hallaqi was intoxicated and arrested after having destroyed a telephone booth in the center of Prizren. However, he was released by an order from the prosecution.

However Metush Biraj, head of the prosecution of Prizren said that the custody prosecutor was not aware of the fact that the Hallaqi had prior criminal records.

Also according Biraj the suspect was released after the police communicated with the prosecutor saying that this person didn’t present any risk if he is left to go home drunk.

But facts are showing something else, the report of the prosecutor Beqe Shala doesn’t match with the report of the police Hajredin Braha.
In a report provided from Justice in Kosovo, it’s obvious that policeman Hajredin Braha emphasized firmly on his official report that he made known to the prosecutor Beqe Shala that the arrested person Shefki Hallaqi was a recidivist.

However, according officials of prosecution and police will be impossible to verify which the truth of this case was because the phone call between the prosecutor and the police is not recorded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The invasion of the Court in North Mitrovica in March, 2008 left the judges and prosecutors of Mitrovica without offices.
After 6 years, they are still using the same building of Vushtrri Court. Shyqeri Syla, the head of the Prosecution in Mitrovica, said more than 20 people work in one office under extremely difficult conditions.

“We hope that by the end of the year we will move to our building in Mitrovica,” he added.

The Prosecution of Mitrovica has only one professional collaborator and a lack of working spaces and equipment.
“When one prosecutor has to interview a suspect, the other officials have to leave the office,” said Syla.

The Court of Mitrovica is in the same situation. The juridical process is held in a container brought by USAID.
Kada Bunjaku Perquku, the head of the Court of Mitrovica, said that for six years the court of Mitrovica has been held in the building of the Court of Vushtrri , a space that is not enough even for the lawyers of Vushtrri.

“In many cases we have to move to the Court of Skenderaj when there are no offices free in Vushtrri Court,” she added.

In many cases the judgment process has to be developed in the same space where other judges do their daily work.
The Court of Mitrovica is short 10 judges based on their caseload and they have only seven professional collaborators.

The dominant penal offenses are narcotic and traffic offenses.

The situation of the Court in Prizren is better than in Mitrovica.

Ymer Hoxha, head of the Basic Court in Prizren, said that they are doing a good job and the number of pending cases is decreasing.

“The judges exceeded the number of cases expected to be processed,” he added.
But the Court of Prizren still requires five more judges in order to function normally. They only have only nine professional collaborators for thirty-five judges. The lack of equipment is also a big concern.

The Prosecution of Prizren works with thirteen prosecutors. Syle Hoxha, the head of the Prosecution of Prizren, said that six more prosecutors are needed to function normally. She added that they only have one professional collaborator, and require six more in order to be able to function normally.

Syla said that they have also they have security concerns in the building of the Court.

 

 

 

The 50,000 current cases of the court of Gjilan are split among 31 judges. The prosecutors are in a similar situation, with one prosecutor presenting up to 30 cases
The head of the Basic Court in Gjilan, Zyhdi Haziri, said that the number of cases per judge is too high.

Jetish Maloku, the head of the Prosecution, stated that they need at least 15 prosecutors but only have 12.

“In the village of Kamenica and Viti, it is clear that we are missing prosecutors. Sometimes we only have prosecutors for one day a week,” said Haziri.

Cases of corruption are the most common in the Prosecution of Gjilan.

“We never had pressure to treat corruption cases from the center or from politics,” said Maloku.

The prosecution of Gjilan has five professional assistants for 12 prosecutors. They still they do not have their own building; they are located in a private building.

The Court and Prosecution of Ferizaj deal with the same problems.

Bashkim Hyseni, head of the Basic Court in Ferizaj, said that the number of cases has increased but the number of judges remains the same.

The situation is worse for the Prosecution of Ferizaj.

Agron Qalaj said that there are only 9 prosecutors, but they should have double that number based on the number of cases.
“We have unresolved cases but we are trying our best to make this number lower,” said Hyseni.

“We are waiting for two more prosecutors but this will not improve the situation that much,” said Qalaj.

“In the village of Kacanik the Prosecutor is present only twice a week and Shterpce only once a week,” he added.
The most dominant offenses are prostitution and trafficking of narcotics.

Peja is one of the regions with the highest level of crime in Kosovo.
“Our politics regarding penal offenses are really good, but the court cannot follow suspected people. We can only treat the cases when we have an indictment,” said Elmaze Sykaj, head of the Basic Court of Peja.

“Our problem is the small number of judges,” she added.

Galani, the head prosecutor of Peja, said that sensitive murder cases are under the control of special prosecutions. Peja has 11 prosecutors and 36 judges.
The lack of professional assistants is also a big problem in the court and prosecution of Peja . The Prosecution doesn’t have any collaborators and the 36 judges have only 7 professional collaborators.

A similar situation is present in Gjakova. They have a small number of prosecutors overall and only two prosecutors for the crime department. The number of prosecutors cannot handle all cases brought to them.

The Basic Court of Gjakova has the same problem. Vaton Durguti, the head of the court, said that they did their best with only 12 judges.
“Taking in consideration the number of cases, we will need 5 more judges in the court of Gjakova,” he stated.
“Cases of corruption and bribery are the dominate cases in Gjakova,” Bakija said.

Another problem the court and prosecution of Gjakova both are facing is the lack or small number of professional assistants. The prosecution of Gjakova doesn’t have any professional assistants at all. The court of Gjakova has only 5 professional assistants.

During a big operation, the Kosovo Police confiscated 18 kg of Cocaine and arrested four people. The total value of the confiscated materials and drug was valued at around 1 million.

The operation, code named “Kokaina,” was extended within Kosovo and along the border with Albania. During the operation money, mobile phones, guns and 18 kg of cocaine was confiscated. The police also discovered an illegal laboratory for cocaine production.

The operation began at the border point Albania-Kosovo with the arrest of someone trying to smuggle 7 kg of cocaine into Kosovo using his car.

As a next step, the police raided a house in Peja where they discovered the illegal laboratory for cocaine production. There they seized 18kg cocaine, 8 liters of chloridric acid, 246 liters of acetone, and equipment from the laboratory.
Among the 4 arrested, one was an American citizen thought to be an expert on cocaine production.

Because of the quantity of cocaine seized, this is considered to be the largest operation of the narco-trafficking department in Kosovo. This operation was part of a bigger one, extending into Albania where 7 kg of cocaine, 18 kg of heroin, and 150 kg of marijuana were confiscated.

 

State institutions are taking precautions to avoid votes being stolen during elections.
Thousands of police, 100 prosecutors, and 7 judges will be working on election day to protect the votes of citizens.

The court system is coordinating with other institutions during the election. “We have selected 7 custodian judges for the elections,” said Enver Peci, head of the Kosovo Judicial Council.

Lawyer Dastid Pallaska said that the court has been doing a good job, but the biggest problem is taking action toward the groups that organize to steal votes.
Seladin Nikqi, an ex-commissioner sentenced to jail for misuse of votes, refused to tell names of suspected people; he denies that there was crimes at all.
He said he was sentenced for the manipulation of 425 votes but he denies to have done these.

Flutura Kusari from BIRN pointed out that the parties whom the commissioners broke the law to help deserted the commissioners at the first sign of trouble.
She further added that commissioners are solely responsible for their crimes and so should be very careful in following the law.

Former commissioner Nikqi told all commissioners to be careful in their work to check where and what they sign onto during the election process.

“There is a trend of election crime improving in sophistication,” said Kusari. “That’s why the prosecution and the police should be careful and use also hidden measurements of investigation.”

On December 9, 2013, Justice in Kosovo reported that citizens in Partesh were confirming the suspicion that money was offered to them in exchange for their vote.
The police arrested people in Partesh only one day after the program Justice in Kosovo was broadcasted.

A similar case was tried in the city of Gjilan. Mejdi Selmani, observer of PDK, tried to convince the Serbian community to vote for PDK’s candidate. As a result, he was sentenced to eight months in prison.

 

Adem Ymeri is suffering because of his son’s problems with the law. His car was confiscated by the court.
All started in October 2006 when Hysni Ymeri married L.A. He abandoned her immediately after the marriage because according to him, the bride was not virgin.

The girl went to the court, presenting a medical report to prove she was in the right.Consequently, the Court of Kamenica fined Hysni Ymeri 650 euros for slander.

Based on the law for compensation, L.A went to the court again, which obliged Ymeri to pay L.A. 5,000 euros in compensation.
Hysni Ymeri has not yet paid the compensation, so the court seized the car of his father, Adem Ymeri.

Ymeri said that the car was taken unfairly because he is not responsible for his adult son’s actions. The car is registered under Adem Ymeri’s name and he does not know why the court seized his car.

Zijadin Spahiu from Kamenica Court said that the procès-verbal of confiscation came from the basic court of Gjilan.L.A declined to comment on this case while the court of Kamenica is waiting for the verdict of the Appeal Court. This verdict will decide whether the Court of Gjilan was correct in confiscating Adem Ymeri’s car to as compensation for the damage caused by his adult son.

Private executor Fadil Hoxha said that this is something prohibited by the law, ”The father is not responsible to pay for the damage caused by children older than 18-years-old,” he said.
“Even though the car is used by the family, it is the private property of the person that has registered the car,” he added.

Selami Rexhepi, the lawyer for Adem Ymeri, said that the car should be returned to his client because Adem Ymeri is not responsible for Hysni Ymeri’s actions.

The second subject treated on this program is a fight between police officers in Ferizaj.

On May 11, the special unit policeman stopped a car but discovered they did not have the tickets to write down the offense. They asked a police officer from the patrol unit to write down the penalty.

During this process, disagreements arose and the two engaged in a physical fight.Now the case is being investigated by the Kosovo police inspectorate.

The program continues with an operation of the Kosovo police in Prizren arising from a tip to the station about a shooting.
After investigating the area and taking evidence, the police went to the station to complete the case.