They threw tear gas in the vault: Prosecutor Seeks Retrial Against Albulen Hadziu and Others

At the Court of Appeals, hearings have been held Thursday for a review of the Constitutional Prosecutor's complaint in Pristina in the case of Justice Minister Albulen Haxhiu, MP Paul Lekaj and former deputes Donika Kadaj-Bujupi and Besa Battiu, over the charge of throwing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly in 2016.

Otherwise, the Constitutional Court in Pristina on May 18th 2021, in the absence of evidence, has acquitted Justice Minister Albulen Haxhiu, deputy Paul Lekaj and former deputate Donika Kadaj-Bujupi and Besa Battiu, who were accused of throwing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly.

However, the Constitutional Prosecutor in Pristina, on 24 June 2021, has filed complaints at the Appeals due to essential violations of criminal procedure provisions, wrong and incomplete confirmation of the actual situation and violation of the Penal Code, reports the “Bet on Justice”.

The prosecution has demanded that complaints be approved as being based on complaint, the act of first degree be annulled and the case turned into retrial and restoration.

To this complaint, there have been complaints on the part of the defense of the accused Lekaj (who was not present at the session), lawyer Arian Koci, who, among other things, said this is a specific case by stressing that there is no case in the world when so many MPs are accused of political positions.

Contract lawyer Koci said that if we analyze the prosecution's complaint, we see quotations of legal provisions that made no sense on the prosecution's part. Similarly, the same said the prosecution had a media report on the gas tank as a topic.
According to lawyer Koci, there was no evidence proving the guilt of his defense, and the same proposed to the court to refuse the prosecution's complaint and prove the first degree of judgment.
Prior to the Jevdet Abazi (head), Ferit Osmani (member) and Tomislav Petrovic (the reference judge), Baftiu declared himself innocent, and the same stressed that the first degree act of judgment was fair and that the prosecution did not have sufficient evidence to prove their guilt and that it now remains in the hands of the Court of Appeals to decide.

While Haxhiu proposed that Apel reject the prosecution's complaint, saying that the prosecutor's absence reveals much about the seriousness of the case.

Otherwise, in this session there was neither the charge of Caday-Bujupi.
According to the indictment filed on April 8, 2016, Lekaj, Baftiu, Cadaj-Bujupi and Haxhi were accused of without authorization of possessing tear gas canisters.

The indictment says that on February 19, 2016, around 12:20, in the Kosovo Parliament hall, after a pause in the Parliament's work until the accused were returning to the hall during the check by the Parliament's security workers, the accused had been found and seized by a tear gas balloon, which they kept without authorization.

For these actions, the four accused are said to have each separately committed criminal work “holding ownership, control or unauthorized possession of weapons” by Article 374, paragraph 1 of the Penal Code.