Eulex had suspended one of its staff members before media reports of alleged corruption among the mission’s top officials were published, and it is a separate case, unrelated to a suspected disclosure of information, says Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.
The person had been suspended before all this was published, and Eulex did it with full discretion, but it is a separate case and there is no direct link, Kocijancic said when asked by a reporter to explain why Eulex has suspended a person suspected of having disclosed secret information to journalists even though the presumption of innocence also applies to the European rule of law mission in Kosovo.
Commenting on the reports about corruption among top Eulex officials, published by the Pristina-based Koha Ditore daily, Kocijancic said in a press release on Wednesday that Brussels is aware of the reports, but that the legal principle that everyone is innocent until proven guilty also applies to Eulex.
Asked how persons suspected of corruption have survived a restructuring of the Eulex mission while someone with a flawless track record regarding corruption has been suspended, Kocijancic said on Thursday that she cannot make comments about persons named in press reports while the investigation is underway, but noted that the restructuring of the mission is a separate process.
A restructuring of the mission is clearly underway as a separate process and it is a result of a long analysis in cooperation with the Kosovo authorities, because the mission will not stay in Kosovo forever, she said.
Asked by a reporter to reveal who has been suspended and why, she reiterated that she cannot comment on an investigation that is underway.
She echoed Wednesday’s press release, in which she said that her service is monitoring closely the developments in Kosovo regarding present and former Eulex officials.
We also confirmed that Eulex and Kosovo’s judicial authorities have been conducting a joint investigation into these accusations since 2013, Kocijancic said.
We are taking action with all means available, and an investigation is underway, she noted.
For several days, the Koha ditore daily has been publishing reports accusing several senior Eulex officials of having taken bribe to protect some Kosovo politicians and associated individuals from prosecution for corruption or even murder.
When Koha ditore started publishing the reports, Eulex suspended British prosecutor Maria Barnieh on suspicion of leaking secret information to media and threatened to criminally prosecute the daily’s journalists.
Both Barnieh and the Koha ditore journalists say that she was not the source of the information published by the daily.
Barnieh has announced that she is ready to publicise a series of documents that would expose corruption within Eulex in a WikiLeaks-type revelation unless she is returned to work.
