EULEX Prosecutors

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“Justice in Kosovo” interviewed three EULEX prosecutors to acknowledge their work and achievements in combating serious crimes in Kosovo.

The first prosecutor, Cezary Michalczuk, is from Poland and worked there as a prosecutor for fifteen years. He claims that his primary reasons for coming to Kosovo are his idealism and his desire to share his knowledge for the greater good.

When asked why he decided to come to Kosovo and leave his decent job in Poland he added, “I could give you my personal reasons. When I was in Poland, I was a specialist in certain areas of criminal law, and since many of my colleagues did not know about the European criminal law, I believe that it is my duty to transmit my knowledge.”

The second prosecutor, Nita Amin, worked in UK for twenty eight years. She has a background as a prosecutor since she had dealt with various crimes in the United Kingdom.

“In Kosovo, the types of crime I deal with are similar to criminal acts in the UK: Murders, aggravated murderers, unlawful possession of weapons, human trafficking etc,” added Amin when asked about the types of crimes that are under her department.

The third prosecutor, Philip Drake, was a defense counselor, deputy judge and a public prosecutor for eighteen years. His main reason for coming to Kosovo is because of the so-called “seconded,” which is a temporarily transfer from his own country.

In regards to the collection of evidence surrounding the attacks that happened back in 2008 on March 14-17, Amin explained: “Well, as you know, the events took place on March 14-17, 2008; therefore, the investigation was conducted by the former UNMIK police officers and they launched a Task Force investigation and all the evidence was collected by UNMIK.”

“Justice in Kosovo” implied that there were a lot of records where more than six attackers were identified, and Amin adds that one of her tasks is to find more suspects since the investigations are still open.

The Task Force was created by UNMIK, and since the attacks against KFOR soldiers happened in Mitrovica from in March of 2008, its mission is to investigate, arrest and prosecute serious crime.

An international officer was killed during this crime event in Mitrovica, where according to Amin that issue is still open and the murderer has not been found yet.

“Justice in Kosovo” emphasized that there were 10 Kosovars killed in 2000 in Mitrovica and asked whether there are any investigations regarding the event, Amin answered: “I am aware of the incident. As for the investigation I cannot answer because that’s not one of the cases that it is in within my office, and since it happened during the UNMIK times, I am not sure whether they handed the investigation to EULEX or not.”

As for the murder case of Selver Haradinaj, Amin explains: “That investigation is still open..It is a joint investigation between EULEX, the local prosecution office, the local police and the police of EULEX. The investigation continues.”

The task Force primarily deals with the incidents that happened towards the KFOR soldiers and there are six suspects. Regarding the incidents that happened in 2000 and 2004, the cases are not under their department and have not been solved yet.