The falsification of evidence against Oliver Ivanovic show that international judges and prosecutors in Kosovo adopted the local way of behavior, instead to impose legal standards of the countries from which they came, writes Politika.
The first blow mission suffered when the Pristina daily Koha Ditore on Monday announced that the prosecutor of the United Kingdom, Maria Bamieh found evidence that two senior officials of the EULEX mission received a bribe to dismiss at least three criminal cases, cited Politika.
The Department for the Fight against Corruption eavesdropped participants of several criminal operations. By chance they intercepted conversations of the EULEX Chief prosecutor Jaroslava Novotna and President of the Assembly of EULEX Judges, Francesco Florit, who met with various intermediaries in order to cover-up serious crimes.
It is believed that they contributed to the closure of criminal proceedings against one of the prominent KLA commander Fatmir Limaj, then the former Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Ilir Toljaj, and in the event of an explosion in a bar of Enver Sekiraqa, for which are suspected members of a special police unit in Kosovo, the paper said.
Prosecutor Maria Bamieh has collected concrete evidence against the two EULEX officials, but also the former Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jonathan Ratel who allegedly interfered with the investigation into the Novotna and Florit, writes the paper.
However, instead of gaining recognition for conscientious and responsible work, Bamieh is punished for minor offences like irregular parking, or the arrival of her daughter in the Office of the Prosecutor.
International circles in Kosovo claim that cases against Fatmir Limaj and protection of witnesses in this and other cases have been particularly unsuccessful actions.
Recall, the Council of Europe Rapporteur, Dick Marty, stated at that time that he will not disclose any sensitive information such as the identity of witnesses and their statements until there is no “absolute guarantee” that the information will be strictly kept. In particular, Marti mentioned inability of EULEX and UNMIK to develop instruments for implementing the protection of the identity of witnesses, or to prevent the leak of intelligence reports.
Politika writes that whispered rumor in Pristina at that time was that replacing of EULEX prosecutors and judges, in various cases, which eventually led to many acquittals is quite suspicious.
