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.