Court does not dismiss “case Stanta”

Court case known as “Stanta”, where 44 doctors and a nurse are accused of misusing official office, will proceed with judicial consideration at the Constitutional Court in Pristina.

The case judge, Shadije Grguri, has rejected the defenders' request to drop the indictment and reject evidence, arguing that the evidence proposed in the indictment creates the well-founded suspicion that the accused are perpetrators of criminal acts they are charged with.

This decision, defence lawyer Besnik Berisha, called the template unsupported in the law.

The court has failed to distinguish between criminal acts and violation of the Law on Health, but I still believe that other instances will correct injustice against the majority of accused doctors and patients tortured by the Prosecution”, Berisha added.

The initial session, held on May 19th of this year, read the indictment set up nearly a year ago. Although two of the accused were missing, Murat Abazi and Heidi Citaku, the indictment was read on the part of the prosecutor of the case, where all accused were later acquitted. After reading the indictment, the head of the court gave him 30 days of protection to present their objections to the indictment.

The accused and defenders had filed a request for impeaching the indictment and rejecting evidence in the argument that there is not enough evidence supporting the well-founded suspicion that the accused committed the criminal acts they are charged with.

In case “Stanta” charged with 44 doctors and a nurse employed in public health institutions and 13 employees or former employees of the private health sector. Part of that judgment are former Health Minister Ferid Agani and the ministry's permanent secretary, Gani Shaban, who is accused of misusing official office during issuing permits to treat patients abroad. According to the indictment, these defendants, acting contrary to the Law on Public Procurement and Administratoral Guides of the Health Ministry, and allowing payments to treat patients outside public health institutions for 2011 -2015.

According to the indictment, these two accused men have made financial profit to the private hospital “IMH” in many of the 4,050,958.00 euros and private hospital “EDA” in many of the 504,555 euros or both hospitals at a total of 4,555,553.00 euros, damaging Kosovo's budget. / KA LLXO.com/