• Kosovo chief prosecutor orders investigations over leaked wiretaps (BIRN)
• Kosovo judge caught on wiretap resigns (Express)
• Enver Hoxhaj leaves PDK’s chairmanship (Express)
• Wildfires devastate Kosovo mountains (RFE)
• Kosovo to make vaccines mandatory for access to indoor spaces (Exit.al)
• Dream that survived: Kosovo’s DokuFest marks 20 triumphant years (BIRN)
• COVID-19: 269 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo chief prosecutor orders investigations over leaked wiretaps (BIRN)

Kosovo’s Chief Prosecutor, Aleksander Lumezi, has asked the Special Prosecution to investigate published audio recordings in which state officials and members of the judiciary are allegedly heard implicating themselves in abuse of power.

“An investigation has been launched by the Basic Prosecution of Pristina over the unauthorized audio recordings, but today I asked the Chief Prosecutor to transfer the case to the Special Prosecution and review it with a team of neutral prosecutors,” Lumezi said on Thursday.

The investigations will attempt to find out whether the crime of exerting influence occurred, and will not focus only on the people allegedly heard incriminating themselves in the audio recordings.

On Monday and Tuesday, local news portal Shqip.com published audio recordings in which important figures in the national intelligence agency and judiciary are allegedly heard telling someone on the phone of their plans to exert undue influence.

On Thursday, the Kosovo Judicial Council announced that it had formed a commission to evaluate the disciplinary responsibilities of one of its members, a Court of Appeals serious crimes judge Driton Muharremi, who was asked in one of the recordings to influence Lumezi himself over the return of a confiscated car.

Muharremi apparently says he will contact Lumezi on the matter.

A businessman, S.H., is allegedly on the other end of the phone in the recording. S.H. has not yet confirmed or denied his involvement in the recordings.

The former head of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Dardan Nuhiu, was sacked on Tuesday, after, in an audio recording published by Shqip.com, he allegedly boasted of plans to “capture” the main media in the country and deploy them for his own benefit.

But the directors of the two local media oputlets Nuhiu mentioned in the recording, Insajderi and Indeksonline, have both told BIRN they know Nuhiu very well and doubt the authenticity of the recordings.

On Wednesday, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, KPC, filed a request to initiate disciplinary proceedings against special prosecutor Asllani, who is allegedly heard in an audio recording published by the same portal telling an unknown person that she will do her best to help him with a case.

BIRN has not been able to reach Lumezi, Nuhiu, prosecutor Asllani, and judge Muharremi on the matter so far.

Lumezi told RTV Dukagjini on Thursday the recordings were probably “unauthorized” and had not been submitted to law enforcement agencies.

Kosovo judge caught on wiretap resigns (Express)

Member of the Kosovo Judicial Council, Driton Muharremi, has offered his irrevocable resignation as a member of Council. His resignation came after online media published wiretapped phone conversations, he had with an unnamed businessman promising him to influence Chief State Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi return a confiscated car.

The Kosovo Judicial Council issued a statement Friday confirming that judge Muharremi has offered his resignation.

“The Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) has received a statement of Mr. Driton Muharremi offering irrevocable resignation. Mr. Muharremi in his statement addressing the President and members of the KJC, emphasises that he offers the resignation aimed at not disputing the name of the KJC,” according to the press release. The KJC said that they will inform the Assembly of Kosovo to replace the resigned judge.

The wiretaps published by online media Shqip.com involved also chief of the Financial Intelligence Unit, Dardan Nuhiu, who was dismissed on Tuesday. Nuhiu was heard discussing with the unidentified businessman his plans to take over control of Kosovo online media.

Enver Hoxhaj leaves PDK’s chairmanship (Express)

Enver Hoxhaj, who just recently was acting chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) said that he decided not to be part of party’s new chairmanship, Gazeta Express reports. The PDK elected Thursday chairmanship and four vice chairs.

Hoxhaj who is also Member of Parliament representing the biggest opposition party took Facebook to announce his decision stating that he will remain only MP and continue helping the party in upcoming local elections.

“Thank you, chairman Memli Krasniqi and members of the Steering Council of the PDK for electing me as member of chairmanship and as one of the vice chairmen. The discussion yesterday and today on whether my involvement in the new chairmanship represents violation of a well-set principle was just. As continuation of my position expressed also during the Election Convention for electing new chairman, the PDK needs to open, to bring young people and reform, I will respect this priniciple and remain only an MP. It is time that the new team and the newly voted chairmanship to work and engage to return the PDK as the first political force. I will remain committed to helping the party as well as our candidates in upcoming local elections,” Hoxhaj wrote on Facebook.

Hoxhaj who was former minister of Foreign Affairs, served as acting chairman of the PDK after its former leader Kadri Veseli was indicted by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) suspected of committing war crimes during his time as former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader. During Election Convention held in early July the PDK elected Memli Krasniqi as new chairman.

Wildfires devastate Kosovo mountains (RFE)

Large areas of the so-called Accursed Mountains -- also known as the Albanian Alps -- have been scorched by wildfires raging for days in western Kosovo near the border with Albania. At least one person is known to have died trying to save livestock on his farm. Kosovar armed forces have been called in to help local firefighters. NATO forces are providing helicopters to drop water from the air. Exclusive drone images recorded by RFE/RL's Balkan Service on August 6 near the village of Shtupeq show smoldering conflagrations and the devastated landscape they've left behind.

Kosovo to make vaccines mandatory for access to indoor spaces (Exit.al)

Starting August 20th, everyone wishing to access indoors spaces and events in Kosovo will need to have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The Kosovo Chamber of Hotel and Tourism (OHT) made the announcement on Friday.

The announcement specifies that the new regulation applies to all indoor events, as well as bars, restaurants, shopping malls, and also family gatherings. Everyone wishing to participate or access these venues will need to show proof they have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The regulation also requires that all tourism and restaurant staff receive at least one dose of the vaccine by August 12th.

According to OHT, they expect that curfew will be shortened for nightclubs. Currently, they are required to close at 11 p.m. The new regulation would extend opening hours to 3 a.m.

Kosovo has seen a significant spike in the number of infections in the past weeks, as the Delta Variant makes up some 90% of new cases.

271 people resulted positive on Friday, bringing the number of active cases to 1,321.

165,190 citizens have been fully vaccinated so far, and a total of 478,048 vaccine jabs have been administered.

Dream that survived: Kosovo’s DokuFest marks 20 triumphant years (BIRN)

As Kosovo’s most famous film festival roars back to life following the challenges of the pandemic, its founders recall how it all started two decades ago in the back garden of a ruined cinema.

Pouring rain slightly dampened the plans of a group of cultural enthusiasts on a summer night in 2002 in the southern Kosovo city of Prizren, but did not rob them of their determination.

It was the opening night of the first edition of the Kosovo film festival, DokuFest, planned to be held in the garden of a Prizren cinema, the Lumbardhi, almost a ruin at the time.

“The first night, before the opening, we had unprecedented rain … we were soaking wet and had to leave the garden of the Lumbardhi cinema and go inside,” DokuFest’s artistic director and co-founder, Veton Nukollari, recalls with a smile.

“But we opened it nonetheless and screened the films … 30 films, mainly from Kosovo, a few from Macedonia and Albania, and some from Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he adds.

That first-ever DokuFest lasted two-and-a-half nights, relying on borrowed technical equipment, and an old cinema saved by people who could not forget the summer nights they had spent watching films there under the stars as children.

Fast forward 20 years and DokuFest shows 200 to 300 films a year selected from around 3,000 applications. It has gone beyond being just a film festival and lasts more than one week, from August 6 to 14, 2021.

Now a trademark of the city of Prizren, a festival that intertwines culture with the ancient city includes other activities, including its famous concerts, DokuNights, a mini-festival within a larger concept.

DokuFest started as an attempt to brighten cultural life in what was then a very gloomy post-war Kosovo. There was no specific idea or plan. But over the years it has turned into a key factor powering the development of an increasingly successful film industry in Kosovo.

Displaced, produced and directed by two important figures in DokuFest, was the first film from Kosovo ever to be shortlisted at the Cannes film festival, this year.

Meanwhile the short film 4-Pills at Night by DokuFest alumni Leart Rama and co-produced by DokuFest and Short Film Festival Winterthur in Switzerland was selected to compete in the 74th Locarno Film Festival.

“We have created a festival in a city which did not have any functional cinemas and now breathes cinematography … and last year we realized a fully online festival in a country without IP addresses,” Nukollari says.

He proudly recalls the struggle to bring something into life from nothing. “We turned a country that did not produce any films into a country that produces films that win at the most important festivals, like Sundance,” he says, referring to Kosovo director’s Blerta Basholli’s film Hive, which was awarded there in early February.

COVID-19: 269 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 269 cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. There have been no fatalities from the virus. 25 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 1,903 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.