Paying for false Muslims would have stopped if there was a condemned, independent act of judgment

We searched the archives in Washington and Kosovo never claimed there were more than 15,000 KLA fighters. It is staggering how the number of beneficiaries, 20 years after the conflict, is increasing and is not shrinking. In short, it's not the account.

So said US Ambassador to Kosovo Greg Delawi a few days ago, who sharply launched criticism of justice institutions, as well as about the large number of false veterans' claims. He demanded that the righteous treatment of this issue not be ignored.

“S first, we have seen claims of high profile fraud by senior public officials for the adoption of veteran status, starting with 19,000 of them who, according to all likelihood, should not qualify for benefits. We've heard that a few openly filed motions have claimed to have been children at the time of conflict or that there were health issues that had nothing to do with war. Yet, a number of officials still approved their demands for profit, outside of the law criteria. That's the point of the case: the ruling decision-makers who ignore the Law”, Delawie said, transmits Koha.net.

Meanwhile, Ehat Miftaraj, from the Kosovo Institute for Justice, said in a proposal for Koha.net that the war veterans' case has spread in Kosovo a fraud scheme involving them are almost the highest political and military figures in Kosovo.

In addition to the fact that Kosovo's number of war veterans, misuse of the budget exceeding the 38m euros within the year, this case has also testified to how powerful the State Prosecutor is, how powerful individuals are in power, and what is most important is the officially distributed culture of impunity in Kosovo since the head of the State Chief Office has come to the state office, the Lumézi”, Miftaraj said.

He says convinced that handling this case independently, impartially and professionally is almost an impossible mission until at the helm of the prosecutorial system are people publicly known to serve politics and interest groups.

“Reaction and public threats regarding this case from politics and from the leaders of the prosecutorial system themselves are evidence that there is no will to conclude this case under the law”, he said.

Former Special Prosecutor Elez Blakaj, who was dealing with the investigation of abuses with veterans' lists, had said his resignation came as a result of threats and pressures he had repeatedly received from enigmatic persons.

Miftaraj told Koha.net how the IKD has analysed the Blackaj Prosecutor's strategy regarding handling this case, which seems to be the best possible in the current circumstances.

If there were an independent trial in this case and within legal terms, this case would end within six months and if we had condemned convictions, the whole process would be declared illegal and payment to false veterans stopped. The state would then have the right time to clear up the truth in criminal proceedings even to those responsible for the growth of lists across the seven Kosovo regions, as in the civil procedure, to begin the return of the damage caused by false veterans”, Miftaraj added.

We remember that the State Prosecutor plans to apply for the suspension of pensions for 19 thousand fake veterans as soon as the indictment in the case of “The fake Veterani” signed by Blakaj, is delivered to court.

Although two protests already took place in Pristina, demanding the dismissal of chief prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi, vetoing the judiciary system and cleaning up veterans' lists, even tomorrow, September 3rd from 11:00, another protest will be held, but this time by “Brigda veterans. Muj Krasniqi” Similarly, they demand the removal of false veterans from the list of pension beneficiaries, broadcast Koha.net.

In the meantime, in the case of false veterans, the Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri has also indirectly acknowledged that political interference was in their investigation. Meanwhile, Delawi during the lecture he delivered to the Juridici students, where he also spoke about the issue of the veterans' swollen lists, urged politicians to step back while justice institutions, a step forward.

“Disregarding or the permanent delay of the pension case for war veterans and other cases involving serious corruption quickly would undo the last 10 years of progress. But at this point of return, there is another way. Politicians must guarantee the prosecution and the judiciary their legitimate independence, without fear and obvious influence, to follow this case and other high-level cases even if this means being followed by prominent personalities”, Delawi said.