Mon, Oct 27 2014

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - The European Union justice mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is looking into allegations some of its senior staff may have dropped criminal charges against some defendants from Kosovo in return for money, the leading newspaper Koha Ditore said.

EULEX said in a written response to Reuters questions that it did not comment on "any ongoing investigation, or any leaked document" purporting to be linked to an investigation, and added: "Allegations are receiving the follow-up required."

EULEX is the biggest and most expensive EU foreign mission. It deals with sensitive issues in Kosovo such as organised crime, corruption and war crimes cases considered too big to be handled by local prosecutors and judges.

It also helps local authorities train justice officials and set up a professional and independent judiciary

The allegations appeared on Monday in Kosovo’s leading newspaper Koha Ditore. The daily, citing leaked documents, said the cases included murder and two of corruption involving high officials from Kosovo.

An international source in the EU mission told Reuters the accusations "were already known to the mission" and had been leaked by a prosecutor. The prosecutor had since been suspended for leaking documents, the source said.

Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with high level of crime and corruption often cited as the main obstacles to foreign investment.

Kosovo was put under United Nations control in 1999, after NATO bombed Serbia to halt the killings and expulsions of Albanian civilians during Belgrade's counter-insurgency drive.

In 2008, when the country of 1.8 million people declared independence from Serbia, EULEX took control of court cases from the UN.