Justice in Kosovo discusses the privatisation of NBI Suhareka winery
Justice in Kosovo broadcast a programme about the privatisation process of the NBI Suhareka wine enterprise, including high-profile suspicions about secret deals between businessmen.
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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 discusses the ruling coalition
20 May 2010 Life in Kosovo discussed the latest developments in EULEX’s investigations in the country which have caused friction within the ruling coalition of the Democratic League of Kosovo and Democratic Party of Kosovo.
The questions considered included: Should senior government officials be investigated? Should such investigations be announced publicly? How are these investigations reflected in the ruling coalition? What will be the impact on Kosovo’s political scene? Will there be changes in the coalition? What are the chances of early elections? Is the ruling coalition sustainable?
To discuss these issues, host Muhamet Hajrullahu was joined in the studio by the following guests:
Bajram Rexhepi, Kosovo’s minister of internal affairs; assembly member from Democratic
Party of Kosovo (PDK)
Eqrem Kryeziu, member of presidency of the Parliament of Kosovo; assembly member from Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)
Blerim Shala, assembly member from Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).
Asked to comment on the recent actions taken by EULEX, the panellists agreed that EULEX had the right to intervene based on the competences granted by the Republic of Kosovo’s constitution.
Eqrem Kryeziu reiterated the LDK’s support for the rule of law in Kosovo, and said that the country is experiencing ‘separation of powers’ for the first time. “This is a good lesson to have,” he said. “It is a challenge for us and our leaders.”
Blerim Shala, from the AAK, was asked to comment on the impact of corruption upon the governing coalition and the state of Kosovo more generally.
He replied that EULEX would have to become involved if corruption does not stop in the higher levels of government.
“AAK has already…explicitly said that all local and central governments created since the elections
can and should be included in any investigations by Kosovo’s judiciary or EULEX.
What Kosovo wants least is the opinion to be created that all politicians are the same: corrupted and able to manipulate power. There should be a clear line between corrupt politicians and clean ones... If Kosovo’s judiciary were functional, EULEX wouldn’t have to intervene,” he said.
Another problem Mr Shala mentioned was the lack of investment in court buildings and facilities: “much more needs to be done for the judiciary to become functional.”
More generally, Mr Shala laid out the four problems he believes Kosovo faces: “corruption, the LDK-PDK relationship, social problems such as unemployment and poverty, and the technical talks between Prishtina and Belgrade.”
Eqrem Kryeziu, from the LDK, confirmed that elections would be held when the government’s four-year mandate comes to an end.
Other reports
In a report about the PDK’s Gjilan branch, Artan Haraqija spoke about how the mayor, Qemajl Mustafa, gave different information to two different sets of journalists.
He firstly said that the reason for his resignation was that he had refused to accept the list of directors “imposed” by PDK headquarters.
Mr Mustafa said “I resigned from the mayor position because of the imposition that happened at the beginning of 2008. If they continue to act in this way, I will leave the party”.
Izmi Zeka, on the other hand, said that the PDK imposes nothing and that the party’s approach is consultative and based on sharing opinions.
Mr Mustafa continued by saying that “I have put up with a lot these last two years, especially since the director of education has taken on more competences than the mayor.
He has taken decisions, hired and fired people. He specifically blamed the head of the PDK as the main individual responsible for such occurrences.”
The same day, Mustafa told another media organization that the PDK has actually not interfered at all in his work. He even said that Hashim Thaci, the head of the party, has given complete autonomy to the municipalities.
“A problem not yet solved, however, remains the neighbourhood of Zabel, which still suffers waking up to the smell of Gjilan’s sewage that is now on the surface,” he said.
In another report, Isa Gacaferi spoke about the lack of criminologists and forensic scientists and that some are resigning due to the low salaries.
There are two institutions in the country working in these fields: the department of missing people and legal medicine which functions within the Ministry of Justice, and the forensics laboratories belonging to the Kosovo Police.
Arsim Gerxhaliu from the department of missing people and legal medicine said that the department needs a DNA laboratory.
He also accused Kosovo’s judiciary of failing to fulfil obligations such as paying bills for the work done in such laboratories.
Islam Azemi, a municipal court administrator, said that the reason such services are not paid for is because the organisations are not legally registered as businesses.
Another worrying fact is that some medical examinations are performed by family doctors, which brings their accuracy into question; this is of concern as they can be crucial for decisions made by courts.
Other reports
BIRN broadcast an investigative report by Artan Haracia, who talked about the problems of
appointing directors in Gjilan municipality.
Justice in Kosovo
A report by Isa Gacaferi covered the question of laboratories and experts for criminal investigations in Kosovo.
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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Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
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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