Tear gas in Parliament: Ballistic expertise established abroad

Court Board Chairman Fatime Demaku has announced that she will be appointed to become a ballistic expertise abroad to prove what means the accused used in the case of having tear gas in the Parliament is being charged Justice Minister Albulen Haxhiu, MP Pal Lekaj and former Presidents Donika Kaday-Bujupi and Besa Battiu.

According to her, based on Appeals' suggestions the court has initially ordered the Kosovo Agency for Forenzice for ballistic expertise, but on their response, it is said that such expertise for the tools found in the accused cannot be found in their laboratory.

“will require expertise abroad since it is not done at the Foreign Kosovo Agency for the tools found in the defendants, and to ascertain what they really are”, Judge Dermaker said.

Similarly, Judge Dermaku handed it over to the parties from a copy of the AFK's response, where it said that such expertise cannot be made in their laboratory.

In terms of this response, prosecutor Ilaz Beqiri said AK officials have clearly explained they have no equipment to conduct the examination.

This is a fact that the prosecutor knew early, even because I took this action, proposed that he proceed with procedure”, the prosecutor Beqiri said.

According to him, it is now up to law enforcement to read and correctly interpret the provision of the article in which the Penal Code defines the weapon.

In this case, Justice Minister Albulen Haxhiu, Deputy Paul Lekaj and former Presidents Donika Cadaj-Bujupi and Besa Buffiu are charged with possession of tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly in 2016, reports “Betim for Justice“.

Otherwise, the Constitutional Court in Pristina on May 18th 2021, in the absence of evidence, had cleared them of unlicensed weapons charges -- Justice Minister Albulen Haxhiu, deputy Paul Lekaj and former deputate Donika Kadaj-Bujupi and Besa Battiu -- on charges of possession of tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly.

However, against this act of complaint, the Constitutional Prosecutor in Pristina had filed, where at the hearing held on October 6, 2022, this prosecutor had demanded the return of the case to the retrial.

Later, the Court of Appeals on October 14, 2022, has made the verdict with which it has approved the Constitutional Prosecutor's complaint in Pristina and violated the Act of Basic Court of Pristina, turning the case into retrial.

According to the indictment filed on April 8, 2016, Pal Lekaj, Besa Battiu, Donika Cadaj-Bujupi and Albulen Haxhiu are charged with without authorization having possessed 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 search by the security workers of the Parliament, the accused had been found and seized by a tear gas tank, which they held 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.

( Archive photo)