Life in Kosovo discusses about emergency situations
Tonight, Life in Kosovo will broadcast a debate on the emergency situations in our country.
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Every Thursday starting from 20:30, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, broadcasts the TV debate show "Life in Kosovo", a joint production of BIRN and RTK.
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Life in Kosovo: Celebrating Independent Kosovo in North Mitrovica
19 February 2009 The show began with a “Culture in Kosovo” report in which Arif Muharremi covered the festivities held to mark the first anniversary of independence, whereas the main show reported from the northern Mitrovica.
Jeta Xharra, journalist and moderator of the debate, visited a number of Albanian families living in the
northern part of Kosovo and spent the first anniversary of the declaration of independence with them.
“How does it feel to be in this part of the country and to celebrate the first anniversary of Kosovo’s
independence?” was Xharra’s question, opening a conversation with people in Mitrovica.
“Independence is still a dream for us, we only see it on TV,” said Adem Mripa, the first interviewee.
He explained the last provocation he had experienced, only ten minutes earlier, in which Serbs threw
stuff at his window.
According to Mripa, who now has only Serb neighbours, the majority of people who lived in his area used to be Albanians, but they had left on account of the provocations and violence.
Asked whether the houses of the people who left were sold or rented, Mripa said some were sold and some not, but he also believed that in 2009 the government would come up with a strategy to return Albanians to this part of Mitrovica.
“I become brave near a brave person,” said Zejnepe Mripa.
“We are going to stay up all night tonight in case something happens; because it’s a dream for us to celebrate.”
Adding that they were building a new house in the northern part of Mitrovica, Mripa told the journalist that they still saw their future in Mitrovica and did not plan to leave.
Walking in the streets of northern Mitrovica, Adem Mripa showed Xharra the houses in which Albanians
once lived.
He also showed her the municipality building in north Mitrovica, which reads in Serbian: “Municipality of Mitrovica, Republic of Serbia”.
Later, Xharra was a guest of the Cimili family, also from north Mitrovica. She directed the same question
about celebrating independence in the north to Halili Cimili. “It is remarkable that we are living in our house all together,” Cimili said.
Talking about the most difficult moments, living in the north, Cimili explained that he thought of leaving on
February 13, when Serbian paramilitaries killed 13 Albanians and Bosnians.
“So why did you decide to stay?” asked Xharra. “I can never find a better place. My father left this to me.
I stayed because everyone supported me. I am happy to live here,” explained Cimili.
“How are you going to celebrate tomorrow?” asked Xharra. “People feel freer to move, so I believe there will be some relatives and neighbours that will probably come over,” he replied. “But for the adolescents, instead of going out to celebrate, they will have stay in.”
“A lot of people think that you will have to put blankets over the windows and switch off your lights,” Xharra continued.
“No, it is not like that,” responded Cimili. “On the contrary, we do live normally, we even listen tomusic.”
After Kosovo’s Son-in-Law segment, BIRN broadcast the municipal debate “Life in Shtime” in which Xharra confronted Naim Ismajli, mayor of this municipality.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television,
RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is
broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.
THE PROCESS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS AND REAPPOINTMENTS OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS
The report on the process of judicial appointments and reappointments analysis the flow of this process, specifically focusing on the bright and dark sides that have marred the process to its final stages.
COURT MONITORING ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2010 - FEBRUARY 2011
Court monitoring report is published as a result of a continuous monitoring of all municipal and districts courts of Kosovo. The findings of this report are based on the monitoring of 2,147 court hearings, by BIRN monitors.
THE PROCESS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS
This report presents the results of part of BIRN's court monitoring project, specifically on the process for the appointment and reappointment of judges and prosecutors.
Follow the Paper Trail
\"Follow the Paper Trail\", a guide to document-based journalism in Kosovo, explains relevant laws, access to public documents, how to publish safely, where to find databases on investigative journalism, and how to locate documents online through various search engines.
Courts Monitoring Report 2010
A detailed analytical report about the work and administration of the courts in Prishtina, Peja, Prizren, Gjilan, Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Decan, Vushtrri, Poduleva, Lipjan, Klina and Istog. The report contains important information, collected by the network of monitors, placed in the major municipalities of Kosovo and aims to identify the key problems and issues that the justice system in Kosovo is facing.
REPORT: Monitoring the Courts 2009
Monitoring the work and administration of courts in Prishtina, Peja, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Vushtrri and Skenderaj.
DIRECTLY ELECTED MAYOR SYSTEM IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
The report on Directly Elected mayor System in Local Governance aims to provide a critical overview of the rationale and feasibility of the implementation of a municipal governance system that places the mayor as the central executive figure, during the third year of its application. The efficiency of this system was assessed based on the following pillars: the relationship between local government bodies, accountability of the municipal executive, respect for the law, the link between the mayor and the citizens, provision of public services (water supply and waste management, capital investments (in school and road projects)), level of transparency, public consultation and citizen participation in decision-making.
BIRN Report on Monitoring the Education System
Report on monitoring the elementary and high schools in Prishtina: Mitrovica, Ferizaj, Peja and Gjilan
Analytical report of the situation and the problems in the University of Prishtina
Report on Kosovo`s Healthcare System
Monitoring report on all primary, secondary and tertiary (University Clinical Center of Kosovo, UCCK) healthcare institutions in Pristina, Prizren, Peja, Mitrovica, Gjilan, Ferizaj, Gjakova, Klina, Decan, Istog and Vushtrri.
Situation and the Problems at the University of Prishtina
Analytical report of research into the standards and problems at the University of Prishtina. Ten years since the end of the war in Kosovo, the University of Prishtina (UP) continues to suffer from a variety of problems, resulting in persistently low quality courses being offered. For this reason, BIRN conducted research into the problems faced by UP students. The data gathered suggests that, out of the many issues reported, the most significant are: the non-implementation of contemporary teaching and assessment methods, the lack of practical work for students, the lack of appropriate academic literature, arbitrary assessments by
professors and generally poor relationships between students and their professors.
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The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
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