- Haradinaj: No court could stain KLA war (KTV)
- Kosnett: Kosovo and Serbia should shed light on missing persons (RTK1, KTV)
- Only 30 percent of senior officials declared their assets (KTV)
- New Criminal Code provides life sentence for paedophilia (KTV)
Haradinaj: No court could stain KLA war
(KTV)
The two heads of state, President and Prime Minister of Kosovo, came together on the 21st anniversary of Dukagjini Epopee.
They remembered the battle of Gllogjan, and they said that this was a historic date for all Kosovo and the Albanian nation.
Referring to Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Prime Minister Haradinaj said that no court could stain the war of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Speaking on behalf of families of martyrs, Rifat Jashari said that thanks to those who gave their lives in the war, Kosovo became a state.
On Sunday, Haradinaj once again refused to talk about pressure about the tariff, saying that he will make a statement about it in the coming days.
Kosnett: Kosovo and Serbia should shed light on missing persons
(RTK1, KTV)
The United States Ambassador to Kosovo Philip Kosnett said that twenty years ago, the United States supported NATO’s use of force to end the Milosevic regime’s campaign of ethnic cleansing, following the failure of sustained diplomatic efforts to achieve a peaceful solution.
In an address on 20th anniversary of the NATO bombardment, Ambassador Kosnett said that it is time for Kosovo and Serbia to build societies where all communities live together with peace and dignity. He called for renewal of efforts to shed light on the missing persons in Kosovo.
“So today, in addition to reflection– I ask for action. I encourage the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to ensure that victims and their families – of all nationalities and communities – have full access to information about the fate of those who remain missing. And I call on both governments to renew efforts to pursue justice for victims of wartime crimes,” Kosnett stated.
Ambassador Kosnett highlighted that on this anniversary, the hundreds and thousands of innocent people must be recalled, who were driven from their homes, as well as the thousands who suffered harm or went missing. The United States, he said, acted to preserve peace, freedom, and stability in the region.
In the meantime, RTK1 quoted the British Ambassador to Kosovo, Ruairí O’Connell, to have said:
“On this day, my thoughts are with all the victims from the Kosovo conflict. They and their families deserve support, justice, and we all must do our best in the service of peace.
Only 30 percent of senior officials declared their assets
(KTV)
Out of 4700 senior public officials who are obliged to declare their assets at the Anticorruption Agency, so far only about 1300 officials or 30 percent of them have done so.
The Anticorruption Agency officials say that the number of the officials who have declared their assets is quite small.
Afrim Atashi, Director of Department for Prevention of Corruption at the Agency, told KosovaPress that another 3600 senior public officials have not declared their assets; nevertheless, he hopes that by 31st March more officials will do so.
Atashi said that in 2018, the Agency filed over 30 criminal reports against senior public officials for false declaration of assets.
On the other hand, Arton Demhasaj of Çohu organisation says that as a consequence of lacking mechanisms by the Anticorruption Agency to verify what is declared and due to the lack of legal provisions to oblige officials declare the origins of their assets, a lot of the asset declaration may be inaccurate.
According to Demhasaj, most of those who have made the declaration have unexplainable assets; that is because its value is over one million, whereas their annual revenues do not correspond with what is declared.
Florent Spahija of the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) also says that the reality and official declarations do not always match.
He said that in all suspicious cases, the Prosecution should cooperate closely with the Anticorruption Agency in detecting those cases and then sending them to the courts.
“Linking the declaration system with electronic systems such as those of cadastral registers or bank accounts according to personal numbers of the officials, would facilitate detection and prevention,” Spahija said.
The asset declaration process for 2019 has started on 1st March, and it ends on 31st March.
New Criminal Code provides life sentence for paedophilia
(KTV)
Over 100 juveniles under 16 were sexually abused in Kosovo over the last two years.
Sexual relationship with persons under 16 is punishable pursuant to the Criminal Code, but it does not explicitly mention the term paedophilia.
Professor of Criminal Law Ismet Salihu, who is part of the Working Group for amendments to the Kosovo Criminal Code, explains the reason why paedophilia as a criminal offence has not been specified.
State prosecutor Besim Kelmendi says that the new Criminal Code, which is expected to enter into effect in April this year, will include special paragraphs dealing with this criminal offence.
He explains that the amendments, in some cases provide even life sentence for this offence.
Judges, on the other hand, say that lack of the term paedophilia as such does not restrict them to issue maximal sentences.
