IKD: Of 94 convicted of corruption, only 36 received prison sentences

The Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD), with the support of the US State Department ʹthe Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Implementation Issues (INL) and NED, on Friday, has held a virtual table on the “Zoom” platform, during which the report was published: “Dedening corruption as countering the annual monitoring of cases of corruption in Kosovo”.

Based on this report, in 2020 The IKD has monitored 744 corruption sessions, including 240 corruption cases, with 643 charged in total. From these surveyed cases, The IKD has reported 114 announced judgments involving 171 persons. Of them, 94 people have been found guilty, while for 77 others have failed the charges.

According to the IKD report, out of 94 people convicted, sentences were imposed on 58 people on bail and fines, while only 36 people have been convicted of prison sentences.

IKD researcher Hypje Mehmeti said IKD finds that the level of transparency within the justice system is not yet at the required level.

“During the process of systematic monitoring of the justice system from January 1st to December 31, 2020, The IKD has made a total of 583 requests for access to public documents, in courts, the KDR prosecutor, KKP and other institutions.”, Mehmeti said, adding that a large number of these requests have received no answers at all, or have received negative answers.

As for transparency, researcher Mehmet has also stressed the public's lack of public information on the establishment of several corruption allegations by the State Prosecutor.

“The IKD has found cases when the State Attorney only announces via media communiqués sent to media electronics addresses, but not even by publishing the announcement on the official page. However, there are times when you don't even announce the rise of an act of corruption that IKD monitors report through page “Justice Vow”.”, she said.

In this direction, Mehmet has also cited the failure to publish judgments on the part of the courts, the lack of data in the case of publishing hearings for cases of corruption on the website of seven to 7) fundamental courts, as well as lack of data on platform “subject status”

The IKD surveyer also added that out of 744 IKD-monitored sessions, 513 sessions have been held, as a result of the failure to meet legal conditions for holding them, 231 have been postponed.

“returned to percentage points, in corruption cases, 31.04% of the sessions have been postponed. So this way, The IKD finds that almost every third (3) hearing into corruption cases has been postponed during 2020. But the most disturbing part is that of these postponements of the hearings, 47 have failed because of its lack of judges and prosecutors”, Mehmeti has said.

While IKD researcher Leotrim Gashi said courts in Kosovo are practicing a low punishment policy, as of 94 convicted persons, only 36 of them were sentenced to prison, while 58 others with parole and fine sentences, including 31 convicted of fine sentences, while another 27 with parole sentences.

He also said the courts have declared legal convictions against 60 people, against 11 persons have been declared a refusal act, while against six persons the charges have been dropped.

According to him, in cases of punitive convictions, with jail sentences and fines, courts do not pronounce high sentences, but most of them are low sentences, with which no convictions are reached.

“Taking into account that only 55% of cases have been pronounced guilty acts of punishment, it is even more disturbing when these punitive judgments contain very mild sentences. That is because of the 36 people sentenced to prison, 16 of them have been sentenced to prison sentences for six months, while we have only one case when the sentence of imprisonment of three years and six months in prison, while even with fine sentences, the most frequently pronounced sentence is the one with 300 euros fine”, Gashi said.

Gashi said that out of 114 stated judgments, four judgments have been pronounced against high profile officials, three of which condemned and a liberal.

“As leader of Lipjan Shukri Buja has been sentenced to the final act of a year's effective imprisonment, but this sentence has been returned to restoration by the Supreme Court, former head of Klokot Sasa Mirkovic, has been sentenced by the first degree to six months in effective prison, but this case has not yet become a clear form, while the chairman of the Novoberda municipality Sveislav Ivanov has been sentenced to 300 euros. While Drenica's former leader, Nexhat Demaku, had been released from the first and second steps, but for these Supreme decisions, the Supreme Party had found in favour of indictee”, Gashi said.

In addition, according to the IKD researcher, as a finding of this report, there is also a lack of pronunciation of supplementary sentences, such as the ban on the practice of profession in public administration, because of 94 condemned acts of prejudice pronounced by the 27 people, prosecutors have not yet initiated the procedure for seizures of property during 2019 and 2020.

From IKD monitoring, according to Gashi it turns out that the average of carrying out the corruption subject from the moment the indictment is established to declaring the final act is 1,297 days or about 4 years.

The panels of this table, Supreme Court Chairman Enver Peci, State Chief Prosecutor Besim Kelmendi, the head of the Court of Appeals, Hasan Shala, taskman of the Constitutional Court in Pristina, Arben Hoti and the director of the Anti-Corruption Agency (AKK), Shaip Havolli, agreed with IKD findings, adding that the findings and recommendations provided in this report should be taken seriously.

Moreover, find attached to the IKD report: “Denying corruption as countering” and photos from the table.