Appeal confirms indictment against Haki Rugova

Rugova is charged with a tender worth about 300 thousand euros, which, according to the prosecution, has been won by the company led by his brother, Gani Rugova, reports “Justice Trust”.

The prosecution's body claims that through these actions, accused Rugova has enabled his brother, Gani Rugova, financial interest.

According to Apel's decision, which has provided by “Justice Vow Trust”, the defence claim that the prosecution has failed to argue the causal link between contract signing and financial realisation for the defendant's brother, Gani Rugova.

As ill-founded, Apel has considered the other claim of Rugova's defender, lawyer Besnik Berisha that at the time of signing the contract on the part of the accused, the Istog Commission had not had the vice president and that all contracts, regardless of their worth, went to President Rugova for signing and that the contract Rugova is charged with had been in force from the moment of the signing of the procurement manager in the Istog Commission.

All these claims, Apel has dismissed them because according to her, Gjakova's Constitutional Prosecutor has sufficient evidence to support well-based suspicion that Hakki Rugova committed criminal acts he is being charged with.

“From the actions described in the indictment, for now there are the key elements of the criminal work accused of by indictee Haki Rugova and that evidence proposed by the prosecutor for reading during the trial, in which the evidence has well based on the case of the establishment of the indictment will be assessed in the trial”, the Apel decision said.

The appeal has estimated that all evidence is acceptable and supportive, which will be clarified in the main examination.

The second-instance court has found that even the Act of Constitutional Court in Pec for refusing to charge the indictment was fair and legitimate,

Otherwise, at the initial session held on January 17th 2019, Hakki Rugova was declared innocent in connection with these charges.

According to the act of Constitutional Prosecutor in Gjakova, founded on March 26, 2018, Haki Rugova is charged with acting as head of the Istog municipality on August 1, 2014, signing contracts with the “company. Ma-Con” sh.p.k. for building sewers for Cerca and Lubozhdez villages.

According to the indictment, at the moment of contract connection for construction work between the Istog municipality and the company “Ma-Con” sh.p.k. The company's director has been Gani Rugova, and the contract price has been 289,119.85 euros.

The prosecution's body claims that by these actions, accused Rugova, has enabled his brother, Gani Rugova, financial interest, to accuse him of committing the criminal work of conflict of interest.

Initially this subject was sent to the Constitutional Prosecutor in Pec, she had been delegated to prosecutor Haxhi Sinanaj, respectively.

But, the latter, on January 17th 2018, was directed to the head prosecutor of the Constitutional Prosecutorship in Gjakova, Ali Selimaj, and after consulting with Apel's chief prosecutor, Haxhi Derguti, as well as Agim Kurmehaj, the subject has been delegated to the Constitutional Prosecutor in Gjakova.

“The reason for sending this criminal case to the competence of this criminal case for defendant Haki Rugova is the fact that, in the same time that we have long known and are in social reports, so to be a fair and independent investigation, following consultation with Apel's chief prosecutor and the chief prosecutor of the Constitutional Prosecutor in Gjakova, we have agreed to send this criminal case to the authority of the Constitutional Prosecutor at Gjakova”, prosecutor Hadina Sinay wrote.

By contrast, Hakki Rugova, in the local elections of 2017, had won another term for the third time at the head of the Istog municipality.