- Daka: I hope at least once we will have regular elections (RTK)
- DiA says it is ready to observe election process in north with 116 observers (KTV)
- Government against vetting, opposition and NGOs say interference in judiciary being allowed (KTV)
- Marty: The whole truth about crimes in Kosovo isn’t known (KTV)
- Trials in absentia for Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo (KTV)
- Memorial plaque to missing journalists laid for the eighth time (Kossev)
News
Daka: I hope at least once we will have regular elections
(RTK)
She has been chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) since 2010, the year when Kosovo had the election process with the biggest consequences for the country, and her mandate ends in 2025.
Valdete Daka hopes that during her mandate, regular elections will be held at least once.
She has been working as a judge at the Supreme Court for many years. She tells about her work at the Court, speaks about the justice system, as well as about women’s role in society.
In an interview with KosovaPress, she says it would be good to have a law on CEC that would clarify everything, including members’ mandate.
She says that in north, one week from today, on 19th May, the OSCE will have an advisory role only, where at every polling station there will be two representatives to the polling station committees.
In regard to CEC members, Daka does not say whether members of all parties should be represented, because she might be considered as politically-biased.
On the other hand, she expects that the recently established Assembly Committee for implementation of recommendations of the EU observers will do its job, in order that technical changes for organising elections in Kosovo are made.
Whilst it is continuously said that extraordinary elections in our country might happen within this year, Daka says they are always ready to organise them whenever they are scheduled, but her desire is to organise regular elections at least once during her mandate as CEC chairperson.
If electoral reform happens in Kosovo, Daka says it will take them time for the legal matters and staff preparations.
As a Supreme Court judge, she decides in criminal cases, in claims for legality protection or for extraordinary reduction of conviction. That is where criminal cases are established, that is to say about fate of the person, whether he/she is going to spend the rest of his/her life in prison.
She speaks about the cases remained in drawers, and about performance of her colleagues.
Asked if parties should clean their lists so that they do not contain suspects or even those with confirmed criminal offences, Daka says it is not ethical to have such persons on the lists, but it is because of the political culture that this issue is not being overcome.
She was the first woman to be appointed judge in Prizren when she was 25 years old.
Having in mind that the work she does is usually done by her male colleagues, Daka says that our society hesitates to appoint women to leading positions.
In Serb inhabited municipalities, about 58,000 persons will go to polls next Sunday, and if there will be two election rounds, it will cost about 400,000 euro to the budget of the country.
DiA says it is ready to observe election process in north with 116 observers
(KTV)
The Democracy in Action NGO network said it has made all preparations for monitoring elections in Kosovo north.
Democracy in Action has engaged 116 observers to monitor the campaign which will commence on Monday, as well as the elections on 19th May.
Ismet Kryeziu of Democracy in Action said that they are committed to retain integrity of the election process.
On the other hand, Srdjan Milojevic of Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC) presented the election observation operation plan.
“On the Election Day, DiA will have observers at each of all 87 polling stations that are expected to be opened in the territory of four Kosovo north municipalities. Moreover, DiA will engage mobile teams that will monitor the election process in general. DiA calls on all political entities involved in the process to run a fair and free election competition. We also call on eligible voters to be involved in the pre-election campaign activities, in order to be better informed about promises and platforms of the candidates for mayors,” he said.
According to DiA, unlike previously, this time there are no indications that there will be tensions during the campaign.
During the pre-election campaign, DiA intends to inform the public about the election process through daily reports and press conferences to be held in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north.
58,500 eligible voters will go to polls on Sunday, 19th May in mayoral elections in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, Zubin Potok, Leposavic/Leposaviq, and Zvecan/Zveçan.
Government against vetting, opposition and NGOs say interference in judiciary being allowed
(KTV)
It seems that the Kosovo Government has given up the security clearance process, or the vetting.
This process has not been foreseen in the Government’s legislative program for 2019, either.
The Office of the Prime Minister believes that Kosovo needs concrete results from the judicial and prosecutorial system, not vetting.
“We believe that we do not have time to waste, but we must immediately establish the rule of law according to the Constitution and laws of Kosovo. Any justification only prolongs the establishment of justice and judiciary’s independence. Government has increased the budget for justice; it has doubled the salaries of judges and prosecutors, and has held high-level meetings on the rule of law, so now, these institutions need to increase accountability to the public with concrete results,” the response by the Office of Prime Minister reads.
Minister of Justice Abelard Tahiri says that he is not in favour of this process, since, according to him, there should be ongoing security vetting through some bodies that will be created.
But, he says that this matter will be decided at the end of September.
Vetëvendosje’s MP Albulena Haxhiu considers the security vetting process as indispensable.
Civil society members say that great results cannot be expected without security vetting of judges and prosecutors.
In the 100-page government program, Haradinaj had promised establishment of the National Bureau of Investigation, promising to conduct the vetting process also.
But after nearly two years of government, the same Government officials have come up against its program.
Marty: The whole truth about crimes in Kosovo isn’t known
(KTV)
The former Council of Europe Rapporteur on what was called “trafficking in human organs in Kosovo”, Dick Marty, stated that “the whole truth about crimes in Kosovo is not known.”
He added that many guilty persons have not responded for what was done, KTV portal reported.
“Only the truth about the conflict in Kosovo cannot bring reconciliation. I have revealed a very little part of it. There is still a lot to be done,” Dick Marty told Vecernje Novosti.
Marty emphasised that his latest book, “An Idea for Justice”, 2018 edition, apart from the developments in Chechnya and those around the CIA, speaks for Kosovo as well.
According to the Belgrade newspaper, the book contains “elements Marty has revealed with his own research in which many crimes and criminals have gone unpunished, such as the case with Albanian leaders in Kosovo is.”
This article carries out Marty’s words that “a lot of time was lost for establishment of the KLA War Crimes Court”.
He stressed that there are still no results, therefore, according to him, the epilogue of the whole story about perpetrators of crimes in Kosovo is uncertain.
Trials in absentia for Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo
(KTV)
Many people from Serbia, whom the prosecution bodies in Kosovo view as responsible for war crimes during 1998-99, may be tried in absentia under suspicion of war crimes in Kosovo, authorities in Prishtinë/Pristina say.
Trials for suspected war crimes cases have turned into a top priority for Kosovo’s institutions, now 20 years after the end of the conflict, which resulted in more than 13,000 human casualties and many other unshed crimes.
The persons that authorities in Kosovo view responsible for these crimes, according to law enforcement bodies, mostly live in Serbia, but also in some other country in the region. Their bringing to justice in Kosovo is considered almost impossible since Serbia does not recognize the state of Kosovo; therefore no extradition agreement can be reached.
Ministry of Justice has proceeded for approval to the Assembly of Kosovo, amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code, where provisions for the trial and punishment in absentia have been provided.
Minister of Justice Abelard Tahiri thinks that even the trial in absentia of these persons has its significance and meaning.
Memorial plaque to missing journalists laid for the eighth time
(Kossev)
Members of the Association of Journalists of Serbia and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, accompanied by the head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jan Braathu, placed a memorial plaque today – for the eight time – to their missing colleagues, Radio Pristina journalists, Djura Slavuj and Ranko Perenic, at the place where they were last seen in August 1998 in Zociste, near Velika Hoca.
The President of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Budimir Nicic expressed hope that this is the last time this plaque is laid and that „this will no longer be a symbol and example of the failure of the institutions that were supposed to discover the perpetrators which have been demolishing it.“
„The police managed to find out who had demolished the memorial plaque the last – the seventh – time,“ said Nicic, stressing that this will no longer be tolerated.
He added that he expects from the prosecution and the court “to give the maximum sentence” to the perpetrators.
Secretary-General of the Association of Journalists of Serbia, Nino Brajovic, sent a message to „those who have demolished this plaque seven times,“ that they will not discourage them in their “efforts to find out the truth, to find our colleagues, and to ensure justice.“
Snezana Perenic, the wife of the missing journalist Ranko Perenic, was also present when the memorial plaque was placed today, said that „there is no good will to solve this.“
„An attack on journalists is not an attack on individuals, but an attack on the entire society,“ explained Brajovic.
Brajovic added that „journalists have seen for themselves repeatedly that perseverance pays off.“
„I can prove this by our twenty-year-long struggle to discover the killers of our colleague, journalist and owner of Dnevni Telegraf and ‘Evropljanin,’ Slavko Curuvija. The first-instance trial of his murderers was just completed,“ he said.
The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jan Braathu underlined that coming here again is a traumatic experience because the plaque was first laid in August 2012 in the place where the journalists went missing. He also expressed hope that this eighth plaque will be the last.
According to the Head of the OSCE, working in the media is important in post-conflict areas, but dangerous as well.
Braathu stated that impunity is unacceptable, adding that crimes, killings, kidnappings and attacks on journalists should be prosecuted and that they will not and must not be forgotten.
He added that there were actually 15 cases of murder and abduction of journalists and that only one was solved so far.
Braathu commended the work of the Kosovo Police the last time the plaque was demolished.
After the memorial plaque was laid, the journalists held an inscription „Return our colleagues to us,“ written in Serbian and Albanian language.
The memorial plaque reads in both Serbian and Albanian: „This is where our colleagues, journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic were kidnapped on August 21st, 1998. We are looking for them.“
Journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic went to the Sveti Vraci Monastery in Zociste to do a story on the return of the abducted monks on August 21st, 1998. According to the information given by their families, they were last seen in the afternoon in Velika Hoca. They mistakenly headed towards Orahovac, which was under the control of the KLA at that time.
As the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) revealed, the editor of Radio Pristina at the time and the head of the Media Center in Pristina, Milivoje Miki Mihajlovic saw a Yugoslav Army report on the eavesdropping of the KLA on the day of the disappearance of Perenic and Slavuj, which stated: „Two packages were brought to Bela Crkva“ (a settlement in Orahovac). Mihajlovic told UNS that he immediately sent New York Times journalist Mike O’Connor to this settlement.
„When he returned he asked me for the serial number of their recorder. I knew the number because I personally bought it. He saw the ‘Sony’ which Ranko and Djuro took with them. O’Connor also saw a blue Zastava 128 and the recorder was in it. He asked the KLA commanders where the people from the car are, and they replied that they do not know anything and that they found it like that,“ Mihajlovic told UNS.
Kossev: https://kossev.info/memorial-plaque-to-missing-journalists-laid-for-the-eighth-time/
