Tag: Kosovo

The National Strategy for the Reduction of Old Cases of the Kosovo Judicial Council, aims to lower the number of unresolved judicial cases.

This is not the first time that Kosovo Judicial Council has attempted to lower the number of cases. KJC’s previous strategy for lowering the number of cases was not fully implemented.

This strategy was approved on November 18, 2010, and aimed to finish the cases that were filed until 2008.

Head of the Basic court of Prishtina, Hamdi Ibrahimi said, “The previous strategy was not fulfilled. In our court you can find cases that were filed in 2003 through 2005 and according to this, we did not implement the strategy.”

According to Hamdi Ibrahimi, the reason the strategy was not fulfilled is because of the large number of cases and the lack of judges.

According to the Head of Kosovo Judicial Council, Enver Peci, “Based on the old strategy, the number of old cases were lowered up to 63%. However we must admit that it was impossible to finish the cases until 2008 with this strategy.”

According to the Head of the Basic Court of Mitrovica, Kada Bunjaku-Perquku, beside the lack of judges, there are other obstacles in implementing the strategy in Mitrovica and where the judges work.

Bunjaku-Perquku also mentioned that they do not have access to cases that derived from the North Mitrovica court. The basic Court of Mitrovica currently uses the court building in Vushtrri.

The progress report, which was drafted from the European Commission, published on October 16, recommends that the judicial system addresses the collection of cases. According to this report, the number of unresolved cases in the Basic Courts of 2012 was 218,740.

A year prior to the broadcast of the program, the death of Habib Osmani was reported in one of the mines of Trepca, in Stanterg. One year after, there are two versions how this miner died and the causes of his death.

According to the internal report of the Trepca Mines Administration, the miner died from natural causes and his death was not related to any irregularities in the mines. Another report was released by the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals which says that the main causes of his death is directly implicates another person Justice in Kosovo decided to interview the members of the family, the eye witnesses and other persons who know anything about this case.

Imer Osmani, the father of the miner who died while working, said, “Habib started working in the mines one year before the accident. I found out about the accident at midnight. He worked as a loader of minerals and ores.”

For his first and the second shift he had the order not to work that day because it was dangerous, but for his third shift he was ordered to work. Habib was on his third shift when he died, added Mr.Osmani.

The eyewitness of this case is one of the co-workers who were working on the same shift with Habib Osmani. Blerim Murseli, the eyewitness said, “We were working on the chimney 144. The water ruptured from the chimney 144. The water pushed me to the chimney 141, which is approximately 100 meters far from the chimney 144. I told my other co-workers to go and look for Habib because he might be dead. Musa Bucinca, our supervisor, gave us the order to work that day”

The report of Trepca Mines says that Habib Osmani died because the water ruptured from a hole and there was nothing they could do about it, whereas the report of the Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals says that Musa Bucinca is the one who should be blamed because he did not take into consideration the order that the previous supervisor gave.

 The supervisor of the first shift had given the order to not work that day because one of the chimneys contained water.  The supervisor of the third shift did not evaluate how dangerous it could be for normal work proceedings to take places that day at the mine.

Xhafer Peci, production director, said that an unknown amount of water was accumulated in a natural hole and it had suddenly ruptured in the chimney 144.

In addition, Nuredin Ibishi, the head inspector of Independent Inspectorate of Mines and Minerals, said that the supervisor made a concession and did not evaluate well the dangers of the workplace on that particular day.

The director of Trepca Mines, Halil Qelaj, said that they did not receive any report from the Independent Inspectorate of Mines and Minerals. “I know that they were engaged in this issue, but I did not receive any report, but if the commission says that the supervisor is responsible, then measures should be taken”, added Qelaj. The Police of Kosovo also said that they did not receive the report of the Independent Inspectorate of Mines and Minerals.

The supervisor Bucinca had denied all the claims of the Independent Inspectorate of Mines and Minerals.

15,000 Euros were given to the family as a compensation for the death of their family member.

 

Local elections of 2009 were associated with much ballot fraud and abuse.  In order to ensure that such irregularities do not take place again in the elections that were due in November 2013, prosecution authorities in Kosovo organized themselves rather efficiently to combat fraud.  Around 50 prosecutors, hundreds of police officers and tens of judges were in charge on the elections day.

The prosecutors, judges and police made it very clear that all those intending to interfere with a fair and democratic election process would be brought in front of justice and face charges.

The head of Kosovo Judicial Council, Enver Peci, said “We are going to take adequate measures on the Election Day”. Apart from the organizational framework of courts and prosecution for fraud-prevention, to combat fraud, another helping hand came from Central Election Commission. When Justice in Kosovo asked Enver Peci if in one way or another they have warned not to abuse with votes, he said that they had tried to warn the political parties to be careful and not to encourage their militants for unfair means during the elections.

In a statement given for Justice in Kosovo, Laura Pula said, “50 prosecutors will be engaged on the election day. If we notice actions against voting rights during the elections day, the prosecutor in charge will immediately decide for the measures that should be taken. Laura Pula, head prosecutor of the Election Council, said that the prosecution will try to find and arrest even the people who deal with ballot sales and purchase.

Kosovo Police was also diligent in their job determined to combat any actions that breach the law and tarnish the reputation of these elections.

Baki Kelani, the spokesperson of Kosovo Police, said, “The Kosovo Police has a drafted and approved a plan that was prepared in time for the Election Day. We, as the Police of Kosovo, have done all the necessary preparations to offer the citizens order and safety.”

At the end of the programme, there are some vote abusers of the elections of 2009 who explain what they did and how they did it.

 The investigative report addresses the problem of dangerous public locations where many people have died accidentally. During this investigation Justice in Kosovo worked diligently in identifying various dangerous spots where a lot of citizens across the country were either at risk of their lives or had already lost their lives.

The program addresses the problem of Barileva village, in Prishtina, where many children drowned in the irrigation channel of Iber- Lepenc. This channel was established during the Communist era of Kosovo. The channel was used to irrigate the tableland of Kosovo. Many houses have been built near this channel. However, due to this area being a residential area there had always been concern that local children were at risk due to the irrigation channel.

A three-year-old boy named Endrit Nreci was one of the victims who lost his life in this channel when he drowned in the water of this channel. Sevdije Nreci, the mother of Endrit, explains the accident. She also said that she always feared that this would happen.

The Iber-Lepenc officials say that the channel was established many years ago and the houses near the channel have been built afterwards. Hajdar Beqa, one of the officials, said, “This is an open channel and the citizens should be very careful. These houses near the channel should not have been built there in the first place.”

The program also addressed the problem related to the controls being put on theme parks, with many of them lacking the required supervision from the municipality; one of the parks in Lipjan resulted to be dangerous for the visitors. 

One of the cases is the amusement park in Lipjan where a seesaw was put in the park without possessing a license for it. Petrit Gashi is a young boy who was injured in the seesaw. For this case, the public prosecution filed an indictment. The Court of Lipjan sentenced the responsible persons with a fee of 250 Euros per person.

In addition, Justice in Kosovo also showed the case of a child from Peja who was seriously injured because an electric cord passed through his balcony. The child of this family, Mergim Syla, was injured a few years ago. Shkurte Syla, Mergim’s aunt, said that it is difficult to watch children all the time and keep them away from the cords. As a result of the accident Mergim’s hands are not fully recovered.

Seven years after the accident, Kosovo Energy Corporation has not removed the cords from that place.

Namik Bajraktari, Head of KEC in Peja, said, “I was not informed of this case. He said that for the moment the cords are isolated.” He promised that this problem will be resolved and action was indeed taken to address the issue.

Agron Maxhuni, a legal official in the Ministry of Local Governance Administration, said that the Municipality Security Council should track these cases. He also mentioned that they have 6 meetings per year where they actively discussed these issues and seek to find solutions.

Kosovo Police officers, from the patrol and traffic unit, had a conflict between each other after they arrived on the location of the accident. The two police officers pointed a gun toward the other officer who happened to be a sergeant. The Kosovo Police has kept the case under wraps, and the police officers that were involved in the conflict were suspended for 48 hours. After returning to work, the police officers are being investigated by the Kosovo Police Inspectorate.

The police officers went to the scene of a car accident, which was on the road between Komoran and Shtime, in order to prevent the possible conflict between the victims of the accident, and to take the necessary measures that determine the guilty person. The police however got into a conflict with the other police unit that was already there.

Witnesses told “Justice in Kosovo” that two police officers pointed their guns toward the sergeant, but the civilians watching did not let the situation escalate.

The police patrol came from the Shtime police unit; meanwhile a member of the patrol, Sergeant Naim Rexha, immediately called the traffic unit to do the necessary measures. The sergeant was accompanied by one of his colleagues.  

Witness Isa Dreshaj told “Justice in Kosovo” that the traffic unit patrol arrived late and they parked their car, which blocked the other patrol car. Dreshaj says that the sergeant Rexha asked them to remove the car, but they were offended and said “Who are you to give us orders?”

According to the eyewitness, during the confrontation, one of the traffic unit members hit sergeant Rexha with a notebook. At that moment two traffic unit members pulled their official guns.

Hysen Kurtbobaj, another witness, also said that the confrontation heightened when Rexha asked them why they were late and warned them that he was going to notify their supervisors about the delay.

Beside Rexha, the others that were involved in the incident were two police officers from the traffic unit, Sejdi Rashiti and Vesel Bytyqi.

The conflict between the police officers was concealed by the Kosovo Police, and the three police officers that were involved in the conflict did not want to discuss issue with “Justice in Kosovo.” They told “Justice in Kosovo” that the inside regulation of Kosovo Police does not allow them to talk.

The Kosovo Police spokesperson for the Ferizaj region, Agim Gashi, told “Justice in Kosovo” that the two police officers were suspended.  

“All three police officers were suspended for 48 hours; meanwhile, the Kosovo Police Inspectorate is investigating the penal act,” said Arber Zeka, Kosovo Police Inspectorate officer.

The citizens of Mitrovica who have won civil disputes are not being able to execute them for approximately four years. One of the cases is the Halili family. They waited four years and their case is still not being executed.

The court in the North Mitrovica was occupied by the Serbs and they fired all the Kosovo judges. Form that time the judges could not return to the court and the cases were blocked. The court of Mitrovica currently is placed in Vushtrri.

The head of the Basic Court of Mitrovica Kada Bunjaku-Perquku said, “The citizens of Mitrovica are complaining and I do not blame them because their cases are not being resolved since 2008. There are 3, 926 non executed cases. We only deal with the cases that urgent.”

Among the 3, 926 non executed cases are also the seven cases of the lawyer Vehbi Beqiri. The lawyer Beqiri said, “The lawyers of Mitrovica are in trouble with their clients because they want their cases to be resolved as soon as possible. This situation is a breach of human rights.”

The municipality of Mitrovica has also problems with the Court of Mitrovica. The municipality is not getting the taxes from the high rise constructions.

In the end, the report deals with the problem of free legal aid. Free legal aid is a right of citizens who cannot afford to engage a professional who offers professional judicial services. Citizens with social assistance, citizens who do not have financial income, single mothers, refugees, displaced persons, elders, citizens with special needs, minors, women, children, police administration, education administration, civil servants administration, and others have the right to ask for free legal aid.

Free legal aid is provided by the Agency for Free Legal Aid. Besim Fierza is one of the citizens who asked for free legal aid.

DritaRegjepi, the head of the Agency for Free Legal Aid, said, “We have provided free legal aid for more than 18,000 cases. Approximately 2, 000 cases are still going through judicial procedures”.

According to the law, free legal aid is provided in four stages. It starts with the advice and it ends with engaging a lawyer for the party.

The criteria that the citizens should fulfil to ask for free legal aid is: qualification criterion, financial criterion, and juridical criterion.  

Justice in Kosovo also broadcasted a report about an attempted looting in the segment “Police”.

With the cooperation of Kosovo Police, Justice in Kosovo has managed to produce a report over a search in perpetrators’ house; the perpetrators were also suspected for hiding illegal weapons.

Regional Investigative Unit operates secretly and its mission is to detect heavy crimes, such as looting or attempted murder.

Two judges from Suhareka, Robert Tunaj and Shaban Zeqiraj, were accused of favoritism. The two lawyers were roommates during their college years. The Disciplinary Prosecution’s Office is investigating the case based on a lawyer’s complaints who claims that the judges obliged that the parties she was defending to change the lawyer, and accelerated the cases of their friends.

Three parties that were defended by the lawyer Sabrije Sylaj submitted complaints against two judges of the Basic Court of Suhareka. In these complaints, the parties declared that the judges asked them to change the lawyer, so Sabrije Sylaj could not defend them.

In one of the cases, which had to do with the proof of ownership, Judge Zeqiraj urgently recommended to Aziz Kabashaj to change his lawyer if he wanted his case to be solved. The judge recommended the lawyer Besim Kuci, who was one of the preferred lawyers of Judge Zeqiraj. However, Kabashaj died before his case was closed and he did not change the lawyer. Sylaj always defended him.

Kabashaj left a written statement that was proved in court on April 18, 201, which showed the conversation that he had with the judge Shaban Zeqiraj:

“When Zeqiraj asked me who prepared the charges and found out that my lawyer was Sabrije Sylaj, he shouted saying that Sylaj knows nothing.”

According to the letter that Kabashaj left, Judge Zeqiraj told him to contact Kuci: “He is my friend and he is the best in this field,” according to the letter.

Kabashaj asked Kuci to defend him, but as soon as Kuci found out that the authorized lawyer was his colleague Sylaj, he refused to defend him.

Zeqiraj denied the Sylaj’s claims and he said that what she said is not true at all: “If only one lawyer accepts this fact, then I am ready to resign from the judge’s position,” said Zeqiraj.

However, Kuci’s name and his number were written on a piece of paper that was given to Kabashaj by the Zeciraj. Sylaj claims that with this piece of paper was given to Kabashaj so he could change lawyers.

Zeqiraj denies this claim: That paper was written by me, but that was not the purpose of this letter.”  

In addition, Justice in Kosovo saw two of Sylaj’s cases with the number 65/12 and 85/13. The first one was submitted in September 2012, and the second one in February 2013. Both of the cases are related to divorce, and Sylaj claims that they were not addressed until May of 2013.

Sylaj compares her cases to the other lawyer’s cases and she says that her cases are purposely postponed. According to Sylaj, a case that was defended by the lawyers Durak Fandaj and Natal Bullakaj was finished within 10 days. Fandaj confirmed that this case was finished faster.

Natal Bullakaj confirms that Judge Tunaj is his friend and that they were roommates during the university years, but he also said that he never took advantage of that.

Finally, in another case which is related to family rights, Judge Zeqiraj told the party Aferdita Bajraktari not to contact Sylaj. In a letter that was confirmed in court on January 11, 2013, Bajraktari complained about Judge Zeqiraj. According to Bajraktari, Zeqiraj said: “Do not engage in the lawyer Sylaj to defend you, otherwise I will never finish your case”.

In July 2007, police officer Xhemajl Zeqiri was injured by a person whom he had stopped in traffic.  The person that attacked the police officer had parked his car outside of the parking space. The attacker was arrested and he was sent at the police station. Whereas, the injured police officer was sent at the hospital for medical treatment.

Surprisingly, the person that attacked the police officer was released a few hours later even though he attacked him while the police officer was performing his duty. His case was sent to the Minor Crimes Court instead of sending it at the Prosecution.  There are doubts that someone inside the police station has misinformed the case prosecutor or that someone within the police force is interfering with the procedures

Police officer Zeqiri, explained the case for Justice in Kosovo. In 2010 he voluntarily resigned from the Police of Kosovo. He was not satisfied with the work done there even though he has worked as police officers for eight years in many divisions. All the rules, laws, and procedures have been broken and this is the reason why he decided to resign.

In addition, he explains that on the day this event happened he was issuing a ticket for someone else when this person parked the car in a place that was not meant for parking. As a result, the police officer asked the person to provide documents on his identity and the driving license, but the citizen refused to do so. Consequently, he attacked the police officer. “He broke my hand wrist and now I cannot feel my fingers”.

The case prosecutor, Shaban Spahiu, confirms that the case was sent to the Minor Crimes Court and not to the prosecution as it should have happened in a normal procedure. He said, “I was not aware that the police officer was attacked. The police officers told me that one police officer was hampered while performing his duty.

A spokesperson from the Kosovo Police said that they told the prosecutor about the incident and the prosecutor was aware about the case. The prosecutor sent the case to the Minor Crimes Court. On the other hand, Shaban Spahiu is sure that he was not aware about the case completely. “If I had known that a police officer was injured, I would send the case to the prosecution immediately”.

BIRN monitor, Erlina Tafa, said, “If the police did not inform the prosecution about the case then immediately a criminal investigation should be initiated with the purpose of identifying the perpetrator”.

Thus far, the prosecution and the Kosovo Police have not clarified the situation. It is still unknown who was responsible for not sending the case to the prosecution immediately. 

Castresana is a Spanish prosecutor who prosecuted officials in South America like former President of Chile Augusto Pinochet and Alfonso Portillo, former President of Argentina.

Prosecutor Castresana explained that “War crimes are usually committed in situations, locations and moments where there is not much evidence left. Usually there is lack of evidence because no one says ‘I did a massacre here.’”Therefore war crime cases depend entirely on witnesses.  

“Media should always be present in the court room. When people see that a particular person was murdered, burned or raped, they will agree with the punishment. There is no magical formula, but the key point to crime prosecution is the transparency,” said Castresana.

Catresana has prosecuted many war crimes, corruption crimes, and organized crimes in Argentina, Chiles, Mexico, and Guatemala.  The Center for Investigation, Documentation and Publication invited him to Kosovo to give a speech to Kosovo judges and prosecutors.

Castresana is also known for initiating a case against the former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who ruled Chile for eighteen years. Pinochet was arrested based on the international law of human rights after he was prosecuted for killing Chilean civilians during his dictatorship. When prosecutors asked Pinochet about murdering oppositions, he answered: “I don’t remember, but it is not true. If it happened, I do not remember.”

In addition, the prosecutor says that Kosovo should have a clear plan of where it should be after ten years and should ask for some international advice: “If you need the American marshals, ask the embassy for them and they will come. If you need the advice from an Italian organized crime prosecutor, you can ask them too,” said Castresano.

“My first impression is that people of Kosovo should understand that democracy does not only imply free elections system. Free elections are very important, they are even a prerequisite, but free elections are only a part of democracy; the other part is the rule of law, added Castresano.

Towards the end of the program, there was a report about the role of cooperative witnesses in penal procedures. Cooperative witnesses are individuals who are suspected of committing, but are still witnesses of that crime. This person can be a witness until he is sentenced in the final verdict. They are used as witnesses in order to solve and prevent criminal cases. An individual that organized two or more persons or led a particular criminal group in a crime cannot be declared cooperative witnesses.

According to the law, these individuals receive a more lenient sentence as a reward for their evidence. One of the first cases of the cooperative witnessing was Nazim Bllaca. Bllaca helped imprison eight criminals and because of this Bllaca received a more lenient sentence than the others that were involved.

 

The judge for serious crimes Elmaze Fazliu, who currently works in the General Department of the Basic Court, has breached the law in two cases denying the right to complain to the parties that were involved in the case that she was judging. Fazliu still works as a judge, whereas the Disciplinary Prosecutor’s office is investigating the case.

Last April, Gresa Shabani threatened Anduena Mekuli. Shabani is currently the executive director of ‘Croatia Sigurim.’ The charges against Shabani were pressed on the April 3, 2013, by prosecutor Hivzi Bajraktari. Shabani was found guilty for threatening Anduena Makolli and had to pay a 300 euro fine.

Shabani’s case was reviewed in the Basic Court of Prishtina by Judge Elmaze Fazliu, on June 6. Two weeks before the verdict, Shabani requested to accelerate the lawsuit.

“The reason behind the acceleration of the lawsuit is because I am a female and a familiar person. Also, I wanted to finish this as soon as possible because this has a bad impact on my career, work and credibility as an intellectual person,” Shabani said.

In the judicial proceeding, Shabani admitted that she threatened Anduena Mekuli and she expressed regret.

On June 6, Judge Fazliu announced to the verdict and on the list of the verdict, she claimed that the parties do not have any complaints. Based on the Penal Procedure Code, a verdict can be powerful only if 15 days have passed from the verdict.

Mekuli, who found out about the verdict only after four days was not satisfied with the decision and she wanted to make a complaint. “When someone threatens you and ends up with 300 Euro fine it is not a fair decision. I would complain if I had the chance,” said Mekuli; whereas, Shabani did not comment about the case.

Judge Fazliu did not want to make any comment about the case and she said that the Disciplinary Prosecution’s Office of the Kosovo Judicial Council will deal with this issue. This decision was canceled after one day by the head of Basic Court, Hamdi Ibrahimi.

Judge Fazliu was involved in another case also where she denied the involved parties the right to complain. The other case was similar to the first one where two people were accused for defamation and were not allowed to complain because the judge finished immediately.

In addition, the Head of Basic Court, Hamdi Ibrahimi, started a disciplinary procedure against Judge Fazliu. “I was obliged to start a disciplinary procedure and to ask for the suspension of this judge because these are issues that I as a judge cannot overcome,” said Ibrahimi.

On the April, 18 2013, Fazliu sent a complaint to the Kosovo Judicial Council, Supreme Court, Appeal Court and EULEX against the decision of Ibrahimi to transfer her from the serious crimes department to the department for general crimes. Fazliu asked these institutions to take action against this decision.

“Justice in Kosovo” also prepared a report about how the Kosovo Police Inspectorate operates. Even though they are called to protect the law, police officers sometimes are contradicting the law.

The Kosovo Police Inspectorate was established in order to deal with police officers that violate the law. Up until 2011, the Police of Kosovo dealt with these violations, but to avoid every possible conflict of interest, Ministry for Internal Affairs established an independent section that investigates police officers.