Today, the initial hearing is scheduled for the former Minister of European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, former Secretary Kushtrim Cukaj and three others, Fitim Mustafa, Demush Shasha and Nuhi Osmani, who are accused of abusing their official position or authority.

The initial hearing is expected to start at 10:00, reports “Oath of Justice”.

This case is being tried by the judge of the Special Department of the Basic Court in Prishtina, Arben Hoti.

The indictment against Hoxha and others was filed by the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo on July 7, 2021.

Former Minister Hoxha, former Secretary Cukaj and Mustafa are accused of continuously committing the criminal offense “Abuse of official position or authority” under Article 414, paragraph 2 in conjunction with Article 77 paragraph 1 of the CCRK.

Whereas, Shasha and Osmani are being accused of having committed the criminal offense “Abuse of official position or authority” under Article 414, paragraph 2 of the CCRK. / Oath of Justice

The Court of Appeals of Kosovo has rejected as unfounded the appeal of the Basic Prosecution in Peja and the appeals of the defense counsels of the accused, Sali Bashota and Enver Berisha.

The Court of Appeals upheld the verdict of the Basic Court in Peja, where the former mayor of Klina Sokol Bashota and the former deputy mayor Enver Berisha were sentenced to 6 months probation and a fine of 1,200 euros for non-reporting of property.

“With the judgment of the Basic Court in Peja, the accused SB and EB, each separately, were found guilty of the criminal offenses’ Failure to report ‘or’ False reporting of property, income, gifts, other material benefit or of other financial obligations’, from Article 437, paragraph 2 of the CCRK and each of the accused has been sentenced to imprisonment, for a period of 6 (six) months, which sentences will not be executed if the accused within the period of 1 (one) year do not commit other criminal offenses. Also, against the accused in question, fines were imposed, in the amount of 1,200.00 Euros, which the defendants will pay within 15 days, from the day when this judgment becomes in the form of cut “, it is said in the notification from the Court of Appeals, Zeri.info reports.

The notice also states that the panel of judges of the Court of Appeals of Kosovo has found that the court of first instance acted correctly when it found the accused guilty of the above-mentioned criminal offenses, while the appealed judgment was not involved in any violation. legal. / Voice

Albanian authorities have announced that through an operation they have arrested about 38 people for drug trafficking, corruption, abuse of official position and money laundering.

Among those arrested are a prosecutor, a head of a government department and three police officers, the AP reports.

Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime, known as the SPAK, said that based on a two-year investigation led by Italy, it was proven that the suspects were part of four international crime groups, mainly involved. in drug trafficking and that they operated in Albania, Italy, Montenegro and Spain.

Twenty-eight of the suspects, including two bodyguards who worked for a former Albanian interior minister, were arrested in Albania.

“Public officials, in some cases drug owners themselves, had guaranteed that narcotics destined for the Italian region of Puglia would arrive there safely either by land or sea,” the statement said.

Albanian authorities will seize assets worth millions of euros from the suspects’ assets, including apartments, other real estate and other businesses.

Albania was once a major European producer of marijuana and a key point of its smuggling.

Seven years ago, the number of cannabis plantations dropped sharply due to a campaign by the authorities, but ongoing operations against drug trafficking show that traffickers are still looking for alternative places to grow or store marijuana and have become part of international trafficking networks. of other stronger narcotics./rel

The court hearing scheduled for Thursday has been postponed, in the case where the former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD), Nenad Rikalo, the Secretary General of this ministry, Kapllan Halimi and six other officials, Shefki Zeqiri, Ekrem Gjoka, Shkelzen Morina, Leon Thaçi, Lindar Krasniqi and Albana Zeqiri are being accused of corruption.

The presiding judge, Mentor Bajraktari, has announced that due to health reasons, the member of the trial panel, Albina Shabani-Rama, is missing, reports “Oath for Justice”.

“We have tried to change the body, but we did not find it reasonable and we had obstacles to find other members. “So today we will not have the conditions to hold the main trial session”, said Bajraktari.

Witnesses Shqipe Dema and Bekim Hoxha did not present during this hearing either, for whom Judge Bajraktari said that they had been informed in advance about the non-holding of the hearing.

Albana Zeqiri’s defense counsel, lawyer Kushtrim Bytyqi, was also not present, who according to Judge Bajraktari had informed the court that he would be absent.

In these circumstances, the session scheduled for May 7 has been canceled, while the next sessions are expected to be held on June 7 and 10, starting at 9:30.

According to the indictment prepared by the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo (SPRK), on December 26, 2019, the defendants Nenad Rikalo, Kapllan Halimi, Shefki Zeqiri and Ekrem Gjoka, are accused of collaborating during 2018, in order to enable them to benefit illegal companies such as: consortium “Novus” LLC, to win the grant “Building a modern market for agricultural products” in Pristina, consortium “Dhemetra” LLC to win the grant “Building a factory for the production of manure “(Not being at all in the list of projects which are covered by funding through grants), the consortium” DOO Zubin Potok “for winning the grant” Project for construction of investments in the facility for storage and preservation of fruits “, as well as the consortium NTP Arena Engineering ”in Peja, for obtaining the grant“ Production and processing of meat ”in Peja, have intentionally acted in violation of Law 04 / L-090 on amending and supplementing Law 03 / L-098 on Agriculture Rural Development article 5.1, article 8, article 13 paragraph 1.2, article 4, article 14.2 Law 03 / L098 on Agriculture and Rural Development, article 8 and 9, regulation (QRK) no. 37/2013, article 7.1, paragraph 1.1, Guide and Manual for drafting the concept of documents by the Office of the Prime Minister.

It is said that they did this so that the defendant Nenad Rikalo, in the capacity of Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, exceeded his competencies, drafted a “Special Program”, without a special budget allocated for this project, has decided on the criteria, has determined the regions for financing, the amount of the grant, bypassing the regular procedures of drafting the special program, which was the competence of the Department of Rural Development Policies in MAFRD, overlapping between the measures with regular program, on March 26, 2018, illegally issued a decision no. ref. KM 91/18 for drafting new policies for further development of rural infrastructure and increasing competition in less developed rural areas, in which case the program is submitted to them completed, while the commission was formed only formally.

Further, it is stated that the defendant Kapllan Halimi, in the capacity of the general secretary in this ministry, has exceeded his competencies so that he has illegally issued the decision with ref.no. OPS 266/18, in order to provide illegal benefits to the above-mentioned companies, appoints a working group consisting of 11 members for the preparation of investments in rural infrastructure, being aware that this group is not competent and has no knowledge of the compilation. of this program, while he was aware that this group was only formal, knowing that the draft was submitted by Minister Rikalo himself.

According to the indictment, the defendant Shefki Zeqiri, in the capacity of an official person in this ministry, during 2018, acting illegally, has drafted and approved the Administrative Instruction 09/2018 for the implementation of the special program “Rural Areas Less developed ”, although he knew that this program was drafted in violation of Law 04 / L-090 on amending and supplementing Law 03 / L-098 on Agriculture and Rural Development and Regulation (NRC) no. 37/2013, bypassing the regular procedures of drafting the special program that is the competence of the Rural Development Policy Department in MAFRD.

While, according to the accusation, the defendant Ekrem Gjoka, in the capacity of an official person, acting Chief of the ADA, illegally took the decision ref.no. ZHB-07/4/54/2018 for the formation of the working group, which group will do administrative control, evaluation, approval and contracting of rural infrastructure projects, composed of: Lindar Krasniqi, Shkelzen Morina, Albana Zeqiri and Leon Thaçi, ignoring the fact that this team should be formed by the director, monitored by the director and this group should report to the Director of the Directorate for Project Approval and Rural Development, so the defendant Gjoka intentionally acted in such a way that enabled the aforementioned companies to benefit illegally because he himself was part of the group when the minister had submitted the ready draft to them, acting in this way they caused damage to the budget of the Republic of Kosovo in the amount of 4,000,000 euros.

According to the indictment, the Accused Shkëlzen Morina, Leon Thaçi, Lindar Krasniqi and Albana Zeqiri, on 14 August 2018, interacting in the capacity of officials at the MAFRD, acting illegally, in order to enable them to benefit in illegally, the consortium “Novus” sh.pk for winning the grant “Construction of a modern market for agricultural products” in Prishtina were declared the winners of the consortium “Dhemetra” sh.pk for winning the grant “Construction of a factory for production of organic fertilizer ”in Gjilan, have announced the winner the consortium“ DOO Zubin Potok ”, for winning the grant“ Project for construction of investments in the facility for storage and preservation of fruits ”, have announced the winner the consortium NTP“ Arena Engineering ”, for winning grant “Production and processing of meat”, in Peja, who have not met the legal requirements set by Administrative Instruction 09/2018 for the implementation of the special program Rural areas less z developed ”.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has received a congratulatory letter from his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte.

As stated in the announcement sent by the Government, in his letter, Prime Minister Rutte congratulated Prime Minister Kurti on his new position and wished him success in the important tasks that await him.

Our countries, like the rest of Europe, are facing an indescribable challenge such as that of COVID-19, the letter said.

Prime Minister Rutte expressed satisfaction that the European Union had the opportunity to assist Kosovo through the Western Balkans assistance package and the COVAX mechanism for providing safe vaccines against COVID-19.

Similarly, the Netherlands came to the aid of Kosovo last year through a bilateral donation of personal protective equipment for the Center of University Clinics of Kosovo.

Prime Minister Rutte assured Prime Minister Kurti that the Netherlands supports Kosovo in its efforts to fight corruption and strengthen the rule of law.

“As Prime Minister, you have received a strong mandate from the people of Kosovo, which together with the development of good neighborly relations constitute the main elements of Kosovo towards Europe and European integration. The Netherlands is committed to Kosovo’s path to European integration, the letter reads, congratulating Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The former consul in New York of Kosovo, Teuta Sahatqija, said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, should not have spoken about crime and corruption in Kosovo before the members of the Security Council.

She said that this topic, which should be internal for Kosovo, could serve as good material for Serbia and Russia in their attempt to present Kosovo as a failed country.

“This topic must be strongly fought, but it must be fought inside. “It is an internal topic and I do not think it is good to give material to Serbia and Russia to use the name of the Foreign Minister and strengthen the attack against Kosovo.”

“We are talking about the Security Council where 8 out of 15 members are non-recognizing states and states that are opposing Kosovo. The focus should not be on the words in the sentence or the analysis of the details of the speech, but we should concentrate so that these sessions no longer exist. “So that they are closed so as not to give the opportunity to both Serbia and Russia to misuse that platform, much less referring to the words of our senior officials.”

Sahatqija in the Special Edition of Klan Kosova said that Gërvalla did well to mention the crimes to Serbia and to keep the flag in the background, but that the focus should be focused on the long-term vision and not on the details.

She said that in the Security Council there is an ongoing war between Kosovo and Serbia and states that are divided on two sides.

“There are two camps; Recognizing and friendly countries of Kosovo such as the US and European countries that unreservedly support Kosovo and emphasize its benefits and it is the camp of non-recognizing states led by Russia that try to present Kosovo as a country of crisis where there is no no progress and as a country that is the bedrock of Islamists. The Russian ambassador said that the Islamists of Kosovo have affected the damage caused to Austria. It is these countries that do not accept Kosovo at all and are very strong to show that the dialogue on the status of Kosovo must continue.

Sahatqija said that he did not see a winner in today’s meeting.

Ehat Miftaraj from the Kosovo Institute of Justice has called not to vote for candidates for MPs who have indictments for corruption.

Through a post on “Facebook” Miftaraj said that the KLI report in the period from 2008 to 2020, 90 percent of persons accused of corruption are men, while 10 percent are women.

“On February 14, do not vote for those who have charges of corruption. The KLI report on corruption cases covering the period 2008-2020, proves that over 90 percent of persons accused of corruption are men, 10 percent are women. Women are more “a little exposed to violate the trust of citizens!”, he wrote.

Miftaraj also says that 51 observers have been accredited to monitor the elections.

“KLI on February 14, 2021 has accredited 51 observers to monitor security and justice institutions in defense of free voting”, he concluded./Zeri