Prosecution of War Crimes in Serbia has exchanged so far 351, evidence and information in war crimes cases with countries in the region and relevant institutions.
As of January 2016 the Prosecution exchanged 173 with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina 57, Montenegro 14 and EULEX / UNMIK 107.
All media cover today’s press conference by Kosovo’s Chief State Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi, highlighting his statement that in the coming weeks the prosecution in cooperation with the police will launch a joint action of freeing up several usurped properties. During a presentation about the work of the State Prosecution for 2015, Lumezi said he was not satisfied with the fight against high-level corruption and added that the prosecution cannot act on generalized information.
The Kosovo government has sent a plan for the transfer of all powers of the EU mission, EULEX, to local authorities.
This has been reported by the Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore, quoted by Tanjug.
The paper published a document in which Pristina calls on the EU to by mid-June transfer all cases initiated or investigated by EULEX to the local judiciary.
EULEX panel of judges today provided defense lawyers of the leader of the Civic Initiative SDP Oliver Ivanovic, with a written verdict sentencing him to nine years in prison for war crimes committed in Mitrovica in 1999.
This has paved the way for defense lawyers to appeal the decision. Ivanovic’s lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic said that verdict written on 192 pages has been received and that deadline to appeal the decision is 15 days, which they will observe.
Kosovo Police in Mitrovica declared today that four official EULEX vehicles were damaged during the night of 17 March, at around 00:30 hours, at the EULEX parking lot.
Kosovo Police visited the site and stressed that damages were made in the form of scratches and broken window glass. The case has been initiated and it is being investigated as “damage of property.”
Defense attorneys of the leader of the Civic Initiative SDP Olvier Ivanović, who was sentenced nine years in prison for war crimes in Kosovo in January, expect a written judgment from the international panel of judges of the Basic Court in Mitrovica in early April, after which they will file an appeal.
The news site reports that Kosovo Police arrested Xhelal Svecla, Inspection Director at Pristina municipality and member of the Vetevendosje Movement, this morning. Media recall that the prosecution had issued an arrest warrant for Svecla over an action by the Vetevendosje Movement that resulted in the demolition of EULEX vehicles in 2013.
Chambers of Commerce of Serbia and Kosovo have strongly condemned last week's acts by supporters of radical Albanian movement ‘Self- Determination’, who overturned two Serbian trucks carrying commodities from Serbia to Kosovo. Chairpersons of both chambers will send a joint letter today to the EU institutions in Brussels and in Kosovo, requesting their active participation in finding solutions to this problem.
The news site conducted an interview with Latif Gashi, former Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) MP and former KLA commander for the Llapi region, before Gashi went to prison today to serve the remainder of his sentence. Gashi told the news site that he is carrying out an obligation in accordance with the law. He also said that "the justice of UNMIK and EULEX have violated every international convention during the Llapi Group trial".
Vetevendosje MP Aida Derguti told a press conference in Pristina today that everyone is witnessing violations by police officers in the Kosovo Assembly and especially the attack on Vetevendosje MP Albulena Haxhiu. “Violence against members of parliament constitutes an unprecedented violation of competencies. The presence of police officers and the expulsion of MPs are illegitimate and no measure was taken against such actions. Neither the Speaker of Parliament nor the presidency is authorized to order such actions against the MPs,” Derguti said.