How Laws Failed in the Face of Jabir Zarko

He was sentenced to three years in prison, but he never set foot in prison.

Former Kachanik leader Jabir Zharku remained on the run for six years, failing to respond to the country's justice bodies' decision. The latter, according to law connoisseurs, are guilty of Zhark's freedom and benefits from law institutions.

Ehat Miftari from the Kosovo Institute for Justice in a pronomination for the Arbres portal.info has said the blame for failing to keep Zhark's sentence are the justice institutions in the country. According to him, they have not used mechanisms available to arrest Zarko during his stay in Sweden.

Laws in Kosovo that link with prescribing prosecution and executing sentences are in line with European Union practices and standards. It is the state responsibility of this independent, professional and impartial institution to ensure that within legal terms they exercise their competencies and responsibilities. In this regard, the guilty should be directed to these institutions exactly why they have not used mechanisms available to them including police attaches in Europe to arrest Mr. Zharku while moving from Sweden to Scandinavian and Benelux” states, Miftari said.

Mifar shows that IKD has consistently stressed that political will to fight corruption is lacking in Kosovo and to implement the law when dealing with powerful political figures.

Kosovo Assembly MP from LDK ranks Arben Gashi has said briefly about the “Arbres portal.info” that this is the issue of political morality and values, adding that there will be changes to the new Penal Code.

It's a matter of political morality and values. The new penal code is in procedure and these measures” will be toughed, Gashi said.

Also disturbing is the position of the Great Britain Embassy in Kosovo, calling Zhark's freedom a disgrace to Kosovo.

The ambassador of Great Britain to Kosovo, Ruari O'Connell, has sharply criticised Kosovo's institutions in the Jabir Zarko case and has called for taking measures, as he has said, that criminals in the future will not flee the country.

Jacob Zharku has been sentenced to three years in prison for his crimes. His return to Kosovo is shameful. But the real shame is that over six years after he was allowed to leave justice, nothing was done to prevent other criminal politicians from doing the same. I see no reason for a legal opportunity that allows criminals to leave the country and live abroad instead of time in prison. I hope government justice reforms will address this vacuum, to help those police and prosecutors who are serious in the fight against organised crime. Britain needs Kosovo to be a serious partner in the fight against corruption and organised crime”]," O'Connell wrote.

We remember that the District Court in Pristina in 2011 had pronounced Jabir Zarko guilty of committing criminal acts of illegal possession and possession of weapons, and had pronounced him a three-year prison sentence, as well as a fine of 1,500 euros.

This decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Kosovo on May 8, 2012.

Zharku was sentenced for a 2006 case, when a sheep farm in the village of Rakaj, Ferizaj, was privatised by the AKM.

According to the EULEX prosecutor's indictment, Maria Bamieh, the injured in this case, Xhelil and Emruesh Suma, had been the winner of the tender as the first bidder, but, after threats from accused Jabir Zharku, Arsim Kolshi, Besnik Hasani and Nyret Cena, the winners had been forced to withdraw to win him now convict Arsim Kolshi, who had been the second bidder.

The former head of the Kachanic, Jabir Zharku, was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison for criminal acts of duty and possession without permission.