Appeals Court Frees Haki Rugova of Act

Under the trial provided by “Justice Vow”, the Court of Appeals has concluded that in Rugova's actions, he did not intend to commit the criminal act, as his signing did not enable financial implementation of the tender.

Rugova was accused of acting as chairman of the Istog municipality on August 1, 2014, signing contracts with his brother's company, “Ma-Con” sh.p.k. for building channeling for Cerca and Lubozhdez villages, worth about 300 thousand euros, reports the “Justice Trust “.

In contrast, in June of this year, the accused Rugova was sentenced by the Constitutional Court in Pec to one year in prison, and a one-year ban on the exercise of public functions had been pronounced upon him, as well as on him.

Against this act, the lawyer Besnik Berisha had filed complaints, for according to him, the indictment contains violations of the criminal procedure and misconception of the actual situation, while the Appeals Prosecutor had submitted the proposal to reject the lawyer's complaint as unmet.

According to the act of Constitutional Prosecutor in Gjakova, founded on March 26, 2018, Haki Rugova was 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.

The indictment says that at the moment of contract binding 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 thousand and 119 euros and 85 cents.

The prosecution's body claimed 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.