- Srpska Lista considers its non-certification a political attack (KTV)
- Srpska Lista appeals CEC decision at ECAP (RTK)
- Spahiu: Elections in north can’t happen without Srpska Lista (RTK)
- Ambassador Heldt: I wonder what wisdom of CEC decision is (RTK)
- 19 Kosovo women returned from Syria put under house detention (Gazeta Express)
- Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office: Trajkovic’s testimony was not crucial in the arrest and detention of two suspects, as Serbian politicians claim (Kossev)
- LDK reacts to appointment of Ngadhnjim Kastrati as RTK General Director (Klan Kosova)
- Chief Prosecutor Beka: I will speak to journalists despite Rules of Procedure (KTV)
News
Srpska Lista considers its non-certification a political attack
(KTV)
Central Election Commission (CEC) has not certified Srpska Lista and its candidates for mayors in Kosovo north.
Seven members voted in favour, while two Vetëvendosje representatives abstained. This made the certification to fail, since eight votes are required.
Currently, CEC is functioning with nine members, given that PAN has not sent its two nominees for accreditation to the President.
Prior to voting, discussions and clashes happened amongst CEC members.
Adnan Rrustemi of Vetëvendosje called on Srpska Lista to distance itself from content of the resignation letter of mayors in north, where they referred to Kosovo as ‘Kosovo and Metohija’.
On the other hand, the Srpska Lista representative said that non-certification of their entity was a political attack, since they have met all the requirements deriving from the Election Law.
“Non-certification of the candidates is happening for purely political reasons, as this is a violation of democratic rights so that people can be elected through elections. I cannot consider this anything else but a brutal attack against Serb community and Srpska Lista, which represents the community,” Stevan Veselinovic, CEC member from Srpska Lista, said.
In this discussion, CEC chairperson and LDK representative called for avoiding political statements.
Parties may appeal the CEC decision at the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) WITHIN 48 hours.
Elections in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, Zvecan/Zveçan, Leposavic/Leposaviq, and Zubin Potok will be held on 19th May.
Srpska Lista appeals CEC decision at ECAP
(RTK)
Srpska Lista has filed a complaint at the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), following the Central election Commission (CEC) decision not to certify candidates of this political entity for the May 19 elections in four north municipalities.
Spahiu: Elections in north can’t happen without Srpska Lista
(RTK)
Political analyst Nexhmedin Spahiu said that in the current circumstances, elections in north cannot be held without participation of Srpska Lista.
On Wednesday, he talked to RTK 3 Analizë dite show.
“No elections in north can be held under current conditions, if Srpska Lista does not take part. It cannot happen that one of the Serbs gets the position there and not be in danger. Both police and judicial system is fragile, and it is enough if something happens so that the situation can get back to zero.
Spahiu said that the state of Kosovo should develop an exit strategy, to effectively take power in north.
Also talking to RTK 3 Analizë dite show On Wednesday, political analyst Eugen Cakolli said that if Srpska Lista does not participate in elections, the situation will get back to before 2013.
“If Srpska Lista does not participate in elections in north, we will get back to the situation as it was before 2013, when only two per cent of citizens turned out in elections. In case this happens, legitimacy is questioned. The situation will get back to the point when there was an administrator for north,” he highlighted.
Ambassador Heldt: I wonder what wisdom of CEC decision is
(RTK)
German Ambassador to Prishtinë/Pristina Christian Heldt said that he could not understand what the political wisdom of non-certification of the Srpska Lista candidates for elections in four north municipalities is, and he wondered why the Central election Commission (CEC) is not yet complete.
“Without being able to judge on the legal aspects of the decision at this stage, I do wonder about the political wisdom of such a step,” he said.
“As if things weren’t already complicated enough, and why is CEC still not complete?” Ambassador Heldt added.
19 Kosovo women returned from Syria put under house detention
(GazetaExpress)
The Basic Court in Pristina has approved the request of the Special prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo, and ordered the house detention for 19 women repatriated from Syria, suspected of joining or taking part as foreign fighters while in war zone.
The women all wearing burkas appeared Wednesday before the court in Pristina, a day after ten other women were ordered a one-month house detention.
Last Friday over 100 Kosovo citizens, four men, 32 women and 74 children were repatriated to Kosovo with the assistance from the US. The four men were immediately arrested after arriving in Kosovo and were put under detention on remand. Most of the children after staying for two days in a reception centre were united with their extended families
Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office: Trajkovic’s testimony was not crucial in the arrest and detention of two suspects, as Serbian politicians claim
(Kossev)
The Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office clarified the allegations of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who accused Rada Trajkovic that her testimony in Kosovo in the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic left two Serbs in custody.
The prosecution also mentioned that the so-called Head of the Kosovo Office, Marko Djuric, published an allegedly genuine and authentic document stating what Rada Trajkovic stated to the investigative team, which is not, in fact, the truth.
According to the prosecution’s allegations, Trajkovic was questioned as a witness, but her testimony was not crucial for the arrest and detention of the two suspects.
„In order to provide accurate information, we would like to inform you that Rada Trajkovic was questioned by the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo as a witness in the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, regarding which a considerable number of other witnesses were questioned, but the testimony of Rada Trajkovic was not decisive for the arrest and the detention of two suspects in any way, as Serbian politicians claim,“the prosecution wrote in a statement.
The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo stated that it is committed to shedding light on the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, „and it is not, in any way, under the influence of politicians in Serbia or anywhere who speak about Ivanovic.“
„Therefore, we appeal to all politicians to refrain from statements that can affect the normal course of the proceedings, or even threaten witnesses,“ the statement read.
LDK reacts to appointment of Ngadhnjim Kastrati as RTK Director
(Klan Kosova)
LDK has reacted to decision of the RTK Board to appoint Ngadhnjim Kastrati as the RTK General Director.
LDK MP Arban Abrashi announced that he would call the relevant RTK Board to report on this matter.
According to Abrashi, legality was not followed in the appointment procedure.
“We have seen reactions from other entities, too. The LDK expert groups have addressed their concerns about legality of the process of appointment of the RTK Director. Of course, we do not want to interfere in the work of independent institutions, but what we can say is that we will request from the relevant committee to call the relevant board to report on the manner of selection and the procedures followed for the RTK Director,” he said.
Chief prosecutor Beka: I will speak to journalists despite Rules of Procedure
(KTV)
Chief Prosecutor at the Prishtinë/Pristina Basic Prosecution Office Imer Beka commented on the new Rules of Procedure, which has been adopted by the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) to regulate the relation between the media and the State Prosecution Office. In an interview with KTV’s Express intervista, Beka stated that despite the Rules of Procedure, he will keep relations with the media.
“In special cases, it has been decided to establish a coordination council, in order to carefully analyse what can be reported. We have continuously been very open, and we have tried to inform and to be as transparent as possible to any media request. I do not think that anything will change. I think that when communication is needed and when it does not interfere with investigations, any prosecutor and chief prosecutor may speak to the media, despite the Rules of Procedure,” Beka said.
In a series of articles, Koha Ditore reported that the new Rules of Procedure restricts communication between the media and the State Prosecutor, as it conditions the information to go through the Chief State Prosecutor Office. No senior officer of the State Prosecutor may speak to the media about special cases of public interest, without informing the Chief State Prosecutor, who currently is Aleksandër Lumezi. The Rules of Procedure have not specified what the special cases are.
The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK) has not cooperated with KPC about the Rules of Procedure. Their justification has been that this happened for technical reasons, namely that they did not see the private email that asked the AGK president Gentiana Begolli for her feedback.
The only organisation that commented on the Rules of Procedure is the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI). According to KLI, a lot of their relevant feedback was not taken into consideration by KPC.
“Unfortunately, although some of the KLI recommendations have been included in the Rules of Procedure, I believe that some of the key concerns that we addressed, have not been considered by KPC at all, thus allowing still many barriers to accurate, fair, and quick information of the public about developments in the prosecutorial system,” Betim Musliu, KLI senior researcher, said.