The case “Veterians”, Lushtaku denies there was a brigade “Hasan Pristina

In this case, for misuse of official position or authority, former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku, incumbent Defence Minister Rrustem Berisha, former delegation Shkumbin Demalijaj, and nine other people are charged.

They are accused of being part of the Government Commission for recognition and Verification of the Status of the Nation's Witness, Invalid, Vetmanan, Partitary and KLA War Intervention, reports the “Justice Vought”.

Both of these witnesses had also been invited to witness at the hearings of 4, 5, 6 and 23 December, but they had not responded.

Witness Butka had not responded to invitations to the early December sessions with the reasoning that the situation in Albania had been extraordinary because of the earthquake that had occurred there, while for the December 23rd session, Butka had asked to be postponed for a day after she had sought assurances of some threats she said she had had.

Sami Lushtaku, on the other hand, had not responded to the court's invitations and in connection with them had given no excuse, what had prompted the court to issue an ordinance for forced conduct for him at the December 23, 2019 session.

The latter, at Tuesday's hearing, was among the first to arrive at the courtroom.

Responding to special prosecutor Enver Krasniqi's questions, Lushtaku denied that there had been a brigade called “Hasan Pristina” in Drenica.

Lushtaku said there were three brigades in the Drenica Zone, 112, 113 and 114, as well as a special unit 111. As for the number of soldiers in that area, Lushtaku said he had tried to take notes, but during the fighting he said they were gone.

Lushtaku said that during wartime he was engaged in the Drenica Operative Zone, initially as deputy commander, and then as commander of that area, while the organisational structure said that the KLA did not initially have the first time they tried to organise, but numerous offensives had caused disorder.

In his testimony, Lushtaku said he was part of the State Commission for Veterans Verification and other categories, assigned by the Government, but said he does not remember the time he was there. Later, in this commission, Nuredin Lushtak said he had been replaced.

The Witness said he remembers roughly the legal base on which the Commission has operated, while the commission's task said it has been for each commander to speak with the chain of command, as no commander knows all soldiers who were at the time.

As for whether decisions were made at the Commission's meetings, Lushtaku said he did not know that decisions were made, but only that the cases were considered. During the Commission's meetings, Lushtaku said the issue of veterans' categories under laws that have been in force has also been discussed.

For many other questions of prosecutor Krasniqi, such as what the Commission's position has been on the definition of the warrior veteran, which is this definition under the Law on Vetemana, Lushtaku responded by saying he cannot remember.

Also, Lushtaku said he cannot remember which category the logistics part has entered, while adding that there have been differences among members during the vetting process.

“E knows that all commanders of the chain of command have been working on verifying soldiers that include verifying applications”, Lushtaku said after prosecutor Krasniqi asked him what basis the verification of applicants was made.

“A Remember what formal criteria should be met for veterans”, was the prosecutor's subsequent question, with Lushtak answering saying he had to be a member of UCK's and there were supposed to be three signatures of commanders on the application.

On the other hand, Lushtaku said that the same criteria have been applied for all operational areas, but, as he said, he does not believe legal grounds regarding the categories have been respected.

In this regard, prosecutor Krasniqi asked which law has not been respected, while Lushtaku cited an example, saying that in the Drenica Zone, people who have been guards have not become veterans, while in other areas that had happened.

Lushtaku was also asked about accused Nuredin Lushtaku, who he said was commander of the 113 Brigade, while as his replacement in the Commission, the witness said was appointed Nuredin Lushtaku with an oral authorisation.

However, after being asked by Nuredin Lushtaku, the witness said he did not remember whether those two had ever consulted about representing the Drenica area at the State Commission.

Responding to the questions of the accused Shukri Buja, witness Lushtaku said there has been no distinction in attitudes with Buya, while adding that as a member of the Commission he could not verify the applications of other areas, but said it is his personal conviction that there are mistakes behind the verifications.

Lushtaku said he doesn't know exactly how many veterans are in his area and added that he has no knowledge that he has become someone he doesn't deserve.

Lushtak was also questioned by the head of the court regarding laws and regulations regulating the work of the Commission, as well as the procedure of complaints, but most of his answers were with “he does not know”.

After Lushtaku, his testimony was also given by Spiro Butka, who was brought to the court at his request, under the hand of two Kosovo Police War Crimes investigators. This, according to the witness, felt threatened by a person named Sokol Poga.

Butka said that according to lists the KLA Veterans Association, headquartered in Tirana, there are 176 veterans from Albania, but, as he said, according to the information it has, this number is now over 3,000 who have already received veteran status.

Butka said that the KLA military structures were included from 20 September 1998, while on April 9, 1999, he said he had become deputy commander of the operation “Arrow”

After the war, Butka said he was engaged in the Co-ordination Government, as part of the Ministry of Defence, on which he said he had drafted a list of KLA members from Albania.

From the list he owns the association he leads, Butka said 71 are martyrs, 21 are disabled, 7 are political prisoners during the war and 87 are veterans, while over 200 people said they are activists who helped the war.

“This information you just gave for the number, did you ever offer to Kosovo institutions”, prosecutor Valdet Gashi asked the witness.

The Witness said that he had brought this list to the War Veterans Organisation in Kosovo, as well as to Government and State Verification Commission.

This list has also been handed over to Parliament Speaker Jakup Krasniqi”, Butka said.

“Who made the verification of warrior veterans in Albania?” was the prosecutor's next question.

After the war, with the provisional Government, a commission for verification and registration of members in the Kosovo war was established with Azem Syla. I recorded all those who had come from Albania taking them from all operational areas”, Butka responded.

Prosecutor Gashi asked the witness how many from Albania already enjoy veteran status, with the witness saying that, a person named Albania Krasniqi told him the figure has gone more than 3,000.

Albanian “Krasniqi has told me that the figure has exceeded 3,000. Shh. John Lefty, it wasn't a second in the war. If this has been a second in the war, I surrender my status today. Today he's a veteran. There's a rumor that 3100 are completely, but I don't actually know”, Butka said.

Responding to the questions of Agim Ceku's defender, lawyer Rame Gashi, the witness said that up to this number of members from Albania had come even after the work they had done on the ground where they had met with the mayor of the Kukes, Tropoja, Kruma, and other countries.

The Witness mentioned another occasion in which a member of his Association Council, Pellumb Llesh, had come to get applications for veterans, but the same, as the witness said, the apps were received by Faik Fazliu.

“Who has been chairman and member of the Verifiable Commission of the Ministry of the Co-ordination Government” was questioned by accused Demalij witness, with the latter saying the chairman of that commission had been Sejdiu Veselin.

Butka denied that Fatos Klosi is a member of his association, saying he was an activist who had helped but had not fought.

I was an officer of the People's Army in 1992, met with Emin Kelmendi, a political prisoner, he told me if you would like to connect with the KLA and I have accepted. But I specifically did not trust the individual until I met with KLA commander Azem Syla and then engaged from September 20th 1998. In 1992, there is no post-KLA but spoke of KLA”, the witness said after being asked by accused Bouja when he was engaged in the UCK.

The accused Buya presented a document signed by Azem Syla to the court, where he said the witness Butka was paid 500 euros a month for his commitment to the KLA, but the witness said he had been given assistance after leaving two children on his way to war.

Butka also said that he was mentally assaulted by accused Smajl Elezaj, regarding the leadership of the veterans' association in Albania, but denied that these problems had been related to the verification issue.

All at the end of his testimony, Butka said that all this work cannot be solved by court and prosecution, but if the commanders are going to take over and list all the brigades, and there will be seen who is a fake veteran and who is not, while adding that they have responsibility for this, Azem Syla, Hashim Thaci and Bislim the Office.

After completing the testimony of two witnesses, the head of the court, Nushe Kuka-Mekaj, said proposals for new witnesses, be written so that the court can then decide whether those proposals are approved or not.

The next sessions for this occasion were assigned, on January 16 and 17, 2020, by 9:30, and on January 22, 2020, from 1: 00 p.m.

In contrast, at the December 4th 2019 session, the court in the case, composed by judges, Nushe Kuka-Mekaj, chairwoman and two members -- Judge Kudim Krasniqi and Agim Kuci -- had issued a verdict with which the publication of witness testimony by the media was banned until the end of the trial process.

Such a decision was taken so that the judicial process in this case will not be harmed, so that witnesses will not be able to read each other's testimony and thus coordinate the evidence.

Similarly, the court had decided that even witnesses would not be revealed to the media, but to be referred to in initial terms, even though the judge himself had acknowledged that they are not protected witnesses, but the purpose is not to damage the judicial process in this case.

After the completion of the testimony from Lushtaku and Butka, Judge Kuka-Mekaj, for “The Justice Vow” said that the restriction not to publish witness testimony already removed and witness testimony can be published, without prejudice if there are other witnesses to be proposed by the accused.

Otherwise, the Constitutional Court in Pristina, on June 19, 2019, had confirmed the indictment, while the Court of Appeals had confirmed that ruling in August of this year.

With the SPRK indictment, it was also required that the Constitutional Court in Pristina be commissioned by the Ministry of Labour and Social Management (MPMS) to suspend payment of pensions for 19,500 veterans until the outcome of the judicial process.

But, on April 1, 2019, the court had rejected this request, arguing that the proposal for provisional measures is not against the accused, but against the MPMS as the third party.

According to the indictment prepared by former special prosecutor Elez Blakaj, the people involved are charged that between 2011 and 2017, acting as members of the Government Commission for recognition and Verification of the Status of the Nation's Witness, Invaledit, Veteran, Partitor and Intervent of the Kosovo Liberation Army War, have used the duty and official authority, passing over competencies and failing to fulfill the official duties, in order to benefit other persons illegally, in order to continue, at the damage to the budget of the Republic of Kosovo.

This indictment includes 12 persons who are charged with criminal work “misusing official position or authority”.

As had been reported by “Justice Trust”, the list of accused persons led Agim Ceku, followed by Nuredin Lushtiu, Sadik Halitijaha, Shumbin Demalijaj, Qele Gashi, Shukri Buja, Ahmet Daku, Rrustem Berisha, Faik Fazliu, Smajl Elezaj, Fadil Shudaj and Xavit Jashar.

The PSRK, too, had proposed to this court that it should release the measure to prevent the payment of illegally acquired pensions as KLA veteran fighters, until the end of the criminal procedure.

In addition, according to the SPRK, evidence provided so far has proved that illegal payments to KLA war veterans has been damaged in many of the Republic of Kosovo's 68,153,533.14 euros.

While, with the indictment handed down to the court on December 7th 2018, it is claimed that the Republic of Kosovo budget has been damaged in many of the 88.769,217.04 euros.