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The Prosecution Asks the Court to Order Kurti to Appear as a Witness in the Reservations Case

2025-02-19 16:29:59 / KOSOVA ALFA PRESS

The Prosecution Asks the Court to Order Kurti to Appear as a Witness in the

The Special Prosecution has requested the Basic Court in Pristina to order Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to appear before the Prosecution as a witness in an open case regarding suspicions of misuse of state reserves, after Kurti had rejected two previous invitations.

Mirlinda Gashi, spokesperson for the Basic Court in Pristina, confirmed to Radio Free Europe that the request has been accepted and that it is "being reviewed by the court."

The Code of Criminal Procedure states that a judge, ex officio, or at the request of the State Prosecutor, may compel a witness to appear.

Gzim Shala, from the Kosovo Justice Institute, told REL that although there is no deadline for when the Court should decide on the Prosecution's request, such a thing "must be done without delay."

And if, after the court order, the invitee does not appear at the Prosecutor's Office, the judge will fine him 250 euros each time he refuses. However, if he refuses even after the fines have been imposed, he can be imprisoned, but not for more than one month.

"Imprisonment lasts until the witness refuses to testify or until his testimony becomes unnecessary, or until the procedure is completed, but not more than one month," states the Kosovo Code of Criminal Procedure.

The Kosovo Government has not responded to REL's request for comment on this request from the Special Prosecution.

In December last year, the Special Prosecution Office invited Kurti to appear as a witness in an open case regarding suspicions of misuse of state reserves.

Kurti had refused to appear at the Prosecutor's Office, calling on prosecutors to go and interview him in his office, at the Prime Minister's Office.

Kurti received the first invitation on December 16, when Government Spokesperson Përparim Kryeziu said that Kurti had not shown up because he was traveling abroad and added that Kurti "has expressed his willingness to welcome the prosecutors of the case to his office on a day and time agreed upon by both parties to fulfill the request arising from the Prosecution's invitation."

Four days later, Kurti received another invitation from the Prosecution, to which he still did not respond positively.

Kurti's invitation for prosecutors to interview him in his office has been criticized by legal experts, such as Ehat Miftaraj from the Kosovo Law Institute and Viona Bunjaku from the FOL Movement.

Miftaraj had said that "if prosecutors lack professional courage," then not only the prime minister, but also ordinary citizens "may mock and disrespect the authority of the Prosecutor's Office."

In 2023, three people were arrested in connection with the state reserves case. Among them were employees of the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade (MINT), led by Rozeta Hajdari, who, during her appearance as a witness at the Special Prosecution Office, chose to remain silent.

In 2023, raids were carried out at this ministry after the publication of audio recordings by the Nacionale portal, which claimed that a quantity of oil, purchased in Poland, and a quantity of wheat, purchased in Turkey, had never arrived.

The government has said that payments for state reserves were made in accordance with the law.

Hajdari said at the time that purchases for state reserves were made in accordance with the law, but did not provide further details, as the information about them is a state secret.

She accused the police of seizing documents classified as state secrets as evidence during the raids.

Kurti came to Hajdari's defense, saying that "there is no corruption or misuse."

"I have full confidence in Minister Rozeta Hajdari and her work," he said and accused, as he put it, "the old and corrupt political elite, its judges and prosecutors, and the misused media of supporting crime."

In response, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council asked Kurti to "refrain from blackmailing and derogatory statements."

Eight months later, in April of this year, Hajdari herself was summoned for an interview by the Special Prosecution Office, under suspicion of having abused her official position in relation to state reserves. In her appearance before prosecutors, she defended herself silently./ REL

 

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