Zbogar: Special Court is important for normalization of relations
(RTK2)
EU Special Representative in Kosovo Samuel Zbogar said in an exclusive interview for RTK2 show ‘Razgovor’ that the establishment of the Special Court and investigation of crimes during and after the conflict is an important step towards the normalizations of relations in Kosovo.
EUSR Zbogar said amongst other that he hopes that the Assembly of Kosovo adopts the necessary Constitutional amendments for the establishment of the Special Court, adding that Kosovo should not be held hostage to the charges but individuals should take responsibility.
Another attack in Pasjan village
(Klan Kosova, RTK2)
Within 24 hours, in village Pasjan of Partes/Partesh municipality two incidents have happened which have disturbed the residents of this village. On the evening hours of Monday, Zoran Kistic from this village was attacked and stabbed by two Albanians.
On Tuesday, a sixteen year-old girl Suncica Markovic was hit with the hand by an unknown man from a moving vehicle and then according to the victim, the attacker started to speak in Albanian language.
Deputy regional director of Kosovo Police for Gjilan/Gnijlane Shaban Azizi told RTK2 that currently one of the suspected attackers against Zoran Kostic has been arrested whereas police is searching for the rest of the suspected attackers.
Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic, representatives of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo and local authorities visited Zoran Kostic. They called upon respective institutions to quickly identify and arrest the attackers.
Meanwhile, Partes/Partesh municipality announced that it will hold an extraordinary session of the Security Committee dedicated to the recent incidents.
On the other hand, Klan Kosova reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has denied that the incident in which Zoran Kostic was stabbed was ethnically motivated.
Kosovo Police (KP) said that the incident happened after traffic disagreements between the drivers of two vehicles.
Law on Special Court to be finalized this week
(Klan Kosova)
Kosovo institutional leaders are expected to have a very important meeting during this week. Klan Kosova learns that a senior delegation from Brussels will visit Prishtinë/Pristina to discuss about the finalization of the Law on Special Court.
However, the EU officials will be confronted with several requests by the locals in relation to the jurisdiction of this Court.
Fisnik Korenica of the think-tank “Group for Legal and Political Studies” (GLPS) said that it the request of Kosovo technical group to remove from the Law on Special Court the jurisdiction on genocide is very important, because according to Korenica if this jurisdiction remains in the law it would create implications for Kosovo’s image.
Moreover, Kosovo technical group has requested that Dick Marty’s report not to be used as evidence during trials. Additionally, the group that is leaded by the Minister of Justice Hajredin Kuçi, proposed the inclusion of local judges and prosecutors in the Special Court, but for Korenica, the last request is unlikely to be realized.
Meanwhile, Kosovo Assembly needs to amend the Constitution for the establishment of the Special Court whereas end of May is expected to be the deadline when this process will be finalized.
Forty-one new judges to be appointed soon
(Klan Kosova, RTK1)
Number of backlogged cases in Kosovo courts is expected to decrease because 41 one new judges will be appointed soon. All of the nominated judges have passed all the tests and vetting procedures.
Head of Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) Enver Peci said that eighteen new judges will be appointed in Prishtinë/Pristina Basic Court since this court has the biggest number of backlogged cases.
Moreover, during a ceremony Enver Peci on behalf of KJC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNDP. On this occasion, both parties agreed that similar agreements have a positive impact in the justice system particularly and in the rule of law in general.
Minister Hyseni lobbies for Kosovo’s membership to Interpol and Europol
(TV21)
Minister of Internal Affairs, Skënder Hyseni is attending the Ministerial Conference of the Salzburg Forum over issues of migration, asylum, security and police cooperation and also fight against terrorism. Minister Hyseni talked about the migration problems of the Kosovo citizens and the importance of a better police cooperation.
Minister Hyseni also participated in the 13th meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Convention of Police Cooperation for Southeast Europe.
During the conference, minister Hyseni met also with Europol director Rob Wainwright and asked for Europol to sign cooperation agreements with Kosovo like it does with other countries of Western Balkan.
Whereas, during a short meeting with the general secretary of Interpol, minister Hyseni asked for Kosovo’s application to become a member of Interpol to be discussed in the next meeting of the Executive Committee.
Government undertakes measures to prevent misuse of official vehicles
(KTV)
Government of Kosovo has taken seriously the media reports for misuse of official vehicles. Besides pointing out this issue in Monday’s government meeting, measures have been taken at least for vehicles that travel outside Kosovo.
Ministry of internal affairs and Kosovo Police will report from now on weekly basis to the Office of the Prime Minister for the number of official vehicles that have travelled outside Kosovo. If the drivers do not have authorization and evidence to travel abroad, police will stop them at the border, KTV reports.
Government is considering establishing a portal where the misuse of official vehicles can be reported and registered. Moreover, the Government plans to amend the Administrative Regulation for use of the vehicles of the Government.
