Witnesses Change Stories in KLA Jail Trials

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Witnesses Change Stories in KLA Jail Trials Opinion: An Unscrupulous and Offensive Celebration May 24 - June 6, 2013 Issue No. 112 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 NEWS Emails to Belgrade Mayor Arrested Spark Spying For Alleged Allegations War Crimes Government insists Deputy > page 3 Minister did not reveal any sensitive information about Kosovo Security Force as Self-Determination MPs call BUSINESS for an investigation. Sugar King Eyes page 3 Brezovica’s Powder > page 4 NEWS Kosovo’s Tough Smoking Law Draws Protests > page 6 PROFILE The Jackal Who Repented Witnesses Change > page 8 Stories in KLA Jail Trials INSIDE PRISHTINA Denials of abuse at KLA detention centres muddle prosecution cases in high-profile war crimes trials. University Hires an electric prod,” Bollofci testified have taken revenge.” Both cases are being handled by Bus Company With By Florent Spahija in 2003, during the first trial of the Bollofci is among four prosecu- EU rule of law mission, EULEX, Troubled Past so-called Llapi Group case. tion witnesses in high-profile war prosecutors and involve charges of t the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, detention cen- Bollofci gave a very different crimes retrials happening in abuse and torture at KLA deten- > page 22 Atre in Llapashtica, the beat- account this past April, when he Kosovo now, the Llapi Group and tion centres during the 1998-9 war. ings were commonplace. At least, testified at the suspects’ retrial. Klecka cases, who have contradict- Among the accused are prominent that’s what Rushid Bollofci told “I haven’t seen or heard of beat- ed statements and testimony given lawmakers in the ruling UN police and an investigative ings,” Bollofci said. years earlier. Three of those wit- Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, judge in 2002 and 2003. Confronted in court regarding nesses, who were all previously including MP Fatmir Limaj, in the Kosovo’s only English-language “Nazif Mehmeti beat me up. He his previous testimony, Bollofci anonymous protected witnesses, Klecka case and MP Latif Gashi, newspaper is available: beat me with a baton for an hour. said, “This is not true, because if including Bollofci, have also pub- in the Llapi case. After a 30-minute break, he beat he [Mehmeti] had beaten me up, licly identified themselves by Delivered to me again with a wooden baton and even if he were a dragon, I would name. continues page 2 Your Door Prevalla - The From Newsstands across Kosovo Cost of Luxury nvironmental inspectors Sent To suspended construction Your Inbox ETuesday of seven homes being built at a housing develop- From ment at Prevalla Mountain, some 30 kilometres from our partners Prizren... feature page 12-13 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 May 24 - June 6, 2013 news Witnesses Change Stories in KLA Jail Trials Editor’s Word from page 1 In Cronyism The four witnesses offered a variety of explanations for their They Trust contradictory testimony, includ- ing mistranslations, pressure from UN investigators and bad t’s no secret that government jobs memories. are a favoured currency for EULEX prosecutor Charles Ipoliticians in Kosovo. Hardaway, in his closing argu- Countless government employees ments in the Llapi case this are politically connected. Even the week, attempted to downplay the chief of the civil service is part of significance of the new contra- the governing body of the dictory statements. Democratic Party of Kosovo, the “The words they spoke at a PDK. time closest to the experience While patronage exists through- and before the corrupting effect out the world, it is particularly per- of time, circumstances and vasive here in Kosovo. A new report other influences took their toll, by Democracy for Development, A are the best guides to fully estab- Class of Its Own: Patronage and its lish the factual reality of what impact on Social Mobility in Kosovo, occurred at Llapashtica,” he attempts to measure the extent per- said. sonal and political patronage. While prosecutors haven’t On the report’s Patronage Index, suggested that the changes in using a scale of 0 to 1.0, Kosovo reg- witness statements resulted isters 0.928, the highest among the 15 from intimidation, war-crimes European democracies studied. cases have seen numerous By comparison, Greece, which has instances of it. well-documented patronage prob- A article in the New Yorker lems, registers 0.62 on the index. In magazine in May about war the UK, it is just 0.09. crimes cases in Kosovo, entitled Illustration/A. Visti “Bring Up the Bodies”, explored This means that government widespread witness intimida- accounts of the murders of accounts in 2002, spoke of being In April this year, he declared, employees who got their jobs based tion in war crimes cases heard Serbian prisoners at Klecka, beaten by KLA fighters and wit- “Fatmir Limaj had no power in on merit are in the minority in at the Hague Tribunal against had previously told prosecutors nessing beatings at the the prison of Klecka and didn’t Kosovo. Limaj and former Kosovo Prime about multiple attempts on his Llapashtica prison. In the cur- have the competence to release Looking more broadly, the report Minister Ramush Haradinjaj, life. rent trial, he said otherwise, and the prisoners.” is just one indictment of how con- now an MP. In June 2009, he was shot and one of his earlier statements Another witness who has nections and cronyism frequently Limaj, in an interview with wounded at his house in was ruled inadmissible. remained anonymous, Witness trump common sense. the New Yorker, denied abusing Prizren, and prior to that, he He blamed faulty translations C, testified in the trial via a Consider the unfolding scandal any prisoners. When asked if he found a grenade in his car in — interviews were done in video link April 30 and contra- involving the Kosovo Security Force. got subordinates to scare wit- July 2007, as well as receiving Serbian, which he said he didn’t dicted his earlier testimony. By the KSF’s admission, emails nesses into recanting, Limaj other threats to himself and his know well — and pressure from He claimed he hadn’t been found on the computer of Deputy responded, “I was in The Hague. family. UN police. beaten or poorly treated at Minister Slavisa Filipovic showed If someone here did something The witnesses who’ve “They came to me many Klecka, as he’d said before. He that he informed the Democratic which was wrong, this person changed their stories in the times. They saw that I was also denied seeing four inmates Party in Serbia about KSF unit posi- Klecka and Llapi case did not scared and told me that I’d be that he knew at Klecka. has to respond.” tions. offer accounts as damning as given a visa and compensation At the end of his testimony, Hilmi Zhitia, a former chief Filipovic’s involvement isn’t clear, Zogaj’s, but they nevertheless for what had happened to me,” Witness C declared that he state prosecutor who’s now a but the ministry’s has insisted that supported prosecutors’ asser- Avdyli said. “Because I was wished that the defendants private defence attorney, told he himself did not reveal sensitive tions about abuses at KLA young, I was deceived by their would be freed as soon as possi- Prishtina Insight that Kosovo information, as has Filipovic. detention facilities. claims.” ble. witnesses frequently find them- The discovery was also kept from Kosovo defence attorney Five other protected witness- selves under pressure. the public for more than a year and a “Witnesses in high-profile Rame Gashi, who isn’t involved Different stories in es remain and are expected to half, prompting the opposition Self- cases can change their state- in the Klecka or Llapi trials, testify. Klecka: Determination party to call for ments because of pressure, said contradictory statements can muddle cases. Filipovic to be investigated in con- threats and blackmails against While the Llapi case heard its Concerns over witnesses: “Changing statements is a nection with possible spying. the witness’s children and fami- closing statements this week, widespread phenomenon since The ability of EULEX to pro- There is no conclusive evidence ly,” said Zhitia, who is not the testimony continues in the the end of the war in Kosovo,” tect witnesses came under fire in that Filipovic was spying for involved with the Klecka or Klecka case. Two Klecka wit- Gashi said. “The judge is chal- the wake of the death of Witness Belgrade. But it is remarkable that Llapi cases. nesses have thus far contradict- Agim Zogaj, a former KLA lenged in recognising which of X, Zogaj. the case was kept under wraps for so ed earlier statements. prison guard known as “Witness the statements offers the truth EULEX did not respond to long and that Filipovic has been Lawyer Sokol Dobruna was a X”, was the star witness in the or comes close to the truth. This Prishtina Insight’s questions given the benefit of the doubt. There protected witness for the prose- Klecka trial until he died in an becomes a difficult task espe- about the protection of witnesses also doesn’t seem to have been a cution, known as Witness A, but apparent suicide in Germany in cially when some other evidence in the Klecka and Llapi cases. proper investigation. The KSF’s he testified publicly on April 23. 2011. related to the case is lacking.” In January, EULEX signed a oversight committee apparently was “I do not accept being a wit- Zogaj, who gave detailed Avdyl Avdyli, in multiple witness protection collaboration not even told about it. ness for the prosecution, howev- agreement with Kosovo’s The most logical answer is connec- er this doesn’t mean that I will Ministry of Internal Affairs in tions.
Recommended publications
  • UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo Order Online
    UNDER ORDERS: War Crimes in Kosovo Order online Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Glossary 1. Executive Summary The 1999 Offensive The Chain of Command The War Crimes Tribunal Abuses by the KLA Role of the International Community 2. Background Introduction Brief History of the Kosovo Conflict Kosovo in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Kosovo in the 1990s The 1998 Armed Conflict Conclusion 3. Forces of the Conflict Forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Army Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs Paramilitaries Chain of Command and Superior Responsibility Stucture and Strategy of the KLA Appendix: Post-War Promotions of Serbian Police and Yugoslav Army Members 4. march–june 1999: An Overview The Geography of Abuses The Killings Death Toll,the Missing and Body Removal Targeted Killings Rape and Sexual Assault Forced Expulsions Arbitrary Arrests and Detentions Destruction of Civilian Property and Mosques Contamination of Water Wells Robbery and Extortion Detentions and Compulsory Labor 1 Human Shields Landmines 5. Drenica Region Izbica Rezala Poklek Staro Cikatovo The April 30 Offensive Vrbovac Stutica Baks The Cirez Mosque The Shavarina Mine Detention and Interrogation in Glogovac Detention and Compusory Labor Glogovac Town Killing of Civilians Detention and Abuse Forced Expulsion 6. Djakovica Municipality Djakovica City Phase One—March 24 to April 2 Phase Two—March 7 to March 13 The Withdrawal Meja Motives: Five Policeman Killed Perpetrators Korenica 7. Istok Municipality Dubrava Prison The Prison The NATO Bombing The Massacre The Exhumations Perpetrators 8. Lipljan Municipality Slovinje Perpetrators 9. Orahovac Municipality Pusto Selo 10. Pec Municipality Pec City The “Cleansing” Looting and Burning A Final Killing Rape Cuska Background The Killings The Attacks in Pavljan and Zahac The Perpetrators Ljubenic 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Painful Past, Fragile Future the Delicate Balance in the Western Balkans Jergović, Goldsworthy, Vučković, Reka, Sadiku Kolozova, Szczerek and Others
    No 2(VII)/2013 Price 19 PLN (w tym 5% VAT) 10 EUR 12 USD 7 GBP ISSN: 2083-7372 quarterly April-June www.neweasterneurope.eu Painful Past, Fragile Future The delicate balance in the Western Balkans Jergović, Goldsworthy, Vučković, Reka, Sadiku Kolozova, Szczerek and others. Strange Bedfellows: A Question Ukraine’s oligarchs and the EU of Solidarity Paweï Kowal Zygmunt Bauman Books & Reviews: Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Mykola Riabchuk, Robert D. Kaplan and Jan Švankmajer Seversk: A New Direction A Siberian for Transnistria? Oasis Kamil Caïus Marcin Kalita Piotr Oleksy Azerbaijan ISSN 2083-7372 A Cause to Live For www.neweasterneurope.eu / 13 2(VII) Emin Milli Arzu Geybullayeva Nominated for the 2012 European Press Prize Dear Reader, In 1995, upon the declaration of the Dayton Peace Accords, which put an end to one of the bloodiest conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the Bosnian War, US President, Bill Clinton, announced that leaders of the region had chosen “to give their children and their grandchildren the chance to lead a normal life”. Today, after nearly 20 years, the wars are over, in most areas peace has set in, and stability has been achieved. And yet, in our interview with Blerim Reka, he echoes Clinton’s words saying: “It is the duty of our generation to tell our grandchildren the successful story of the Balkans, different from the bloody Balkans one which we were told about.” This and many more observations made by the authors of this issue of New Eastern Europe piece together a complex picture of a region marred by a painful past and facing a hopeful, yet fragile future.
    [Show full text]
  • Kosovo Monthly Review Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises May 2012
    CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CEN TRE The Mediterranean Team Presents Kosovo Monthly Review Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises May 2012 INSIDE THIS ISSUE This document provides an overview of developments in Kosovo from 01—31 May with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other Governance issues pertaining to the region, please contact the members of the Mediterranean Basin Team, or visit our Security website at www.cimicweb.org. Economic Development Humanitarian Affairs Governance Socio-Cultural Development Serbian Elections ABOUT THE CFC Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and former ultranationalist, won the runoff presidential election held 20 May with 50.21% of the vote over incumbent Presi- The Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) is an information and dent Boris Tadic’s 46.77%, reports EurActive. SNS also won the most seats in the parliamentary knowledge management election on 06 May with 24%, or 73 of 250 seats, whereas Tadic’s Democratic Party won 67 organisation focused on improving seats and the Socialist Party of Serbia’s (SPS) won 44 seats. The 06 May election led to a contin- civil-military interaction, facilitating uance of the coalition between the Democratic Party and SPS, Southeast European Times information sharing and enhancing (SETimes) writes. SPS increased its representation by nearly 16%, becoming an important bloc situational awareness through the in the creation of a new and stable pro-EU government, in which Nikolic is committed to select- CimicWeb portal and our weekly ing Tadic as prime minister, as Tadic’s Democratic Party and party allies have managed to domi- and monthly publications.
    [Show full text]
  • Annex 4: Mechanisms in Europe
    ANNEX 4: MECHANISMS IN EUROPE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA Conflict Background and Political Context The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) emerged from World War II as a communist country under the rule of President Josip Broz Tito. The new state brought Serbs, Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, and Slovenes into a federation of six separate republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) and two autonomous provinces of Serbia (Kosovo and Vojvodina). Ten years after Tito’s death in 1980, the country was in economic crisis and the mechanisms he had designed to both repress and balance ethnic demands in the SFRY were under severe strain. Slobodan Milošević had harnessed the power of nationalism to consolidate his power as president of Serbia. The League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolved in January 1990, and the first multiparty elections were held in all Yugoslav republics, carrying nationalist parties to power in Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia.1763 Meanwhile, Milošević and his political allies asserted control in Kosovo, Vojvodina, and Montenegro, giving Serbia’s president de facto control over four of the eight votes in the federal state’s collective presidency. This and the consolidation of Serbian control over the Yugoslav People’s Army (YPA) heightened fears and played into ascendant nationalist feelings in other parts of the country. Declarations of independence by Croatia and Slovenia on June 25, 1991, brought matters to a head. Largely homogenous Slovenia succeeded in defending itself through a 10-day conflict that year against the Serb-dominated federal army, but Milošević was more determined to contest the independence of republics with sizeable ethnic Serb populations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Kosovo War Tour: Dealing with the Country's War History As a Tour Operator
    The Kosovo war tour: dealing with the country’s war history as a tour operator Image 1. “Adem Jashari” memorial complex, Prekaz, Kosovo. 31 May, 2018. by Sarah Driessen Driessen s4361954/1 s4361954 August, 2018 ⁕ Preface ⁕ The first time I visited Kosovo was three years ago in 2015. The country caught my interest and I have been going back there every year since. This is why the decision to focus on Kosovo for my research was quickly made. As a tourist, you stand out, because there are not many there. I have seen the beautiful and positive sides of Kosovo but at the same time I have noticed how the country, years after the war, still has a long way to go. With my research, I want to give a helping hand and combine tourism with the development of the country and dealing with the war history. I have written this thesis for my master’s degree in Human Geography: Cultural Geography & Tourism at the Radboud University, Nijmegen. I went to stay in the capital of Kosovo, Pristina, for three months and experienced what it is like to live there instead of just being a tourist. I hope this thesis can be of value to the person reading it. Sarah Driessen Gendt, 7 August, 2018 Driessen s4361954/2 ⁕ Summary ⁕ This research looks at the possibility of offering a war tour in Kosovo as a way to handle the war history of the country as a tour operator. Kosovo has a negative image among Dutch people, which is mostly caused by the country’s war history.
    [Show full text]
  • The Panoramic Tour of Skopje
    The Panoramic Tour of Skopje 22 April 2017 09:00 Departure from the conference center Professional and experienced licensed guide during the tours. Transportation by a comfortable AC non smoking Luxurious car / Van with professional driver. 20:00 Returning to the hotel Price: FREE During the Tour will visit the Historical Places Macedonia Square Stone Bridge Skopje Fortress Old Bazaar Skopje Ishak Bey Mosque Museum of The Macedonian Struggle (Skopje) Note: Only, the museums entrance fee and lunch will be paid by the participants. Historical Places Information 1. Macedonia Square It is located in the central part of the city, and it crosses the Vardar River. The Christmas festivals are always held there and it commonly serves as the site of cultural, political and other events. The independence of Macedonia from Yugoslavia was declared here by the country's first president, Kiro Gligorov. The square is currently under re- development and there are many new buildings around the square being constructed. The three main streets that merge onto the square are Maksim Gorki, Dimitar Vlahov and Street Macedonia. Dimitar Vlahov Street was converted into a pedestrian street in 2011. Maksim Gorki, while not a pedestrian zone, is lined with Japanese Cherry trees, whose blossoms in spring mark a week-long series of Asian cultural events. Finally, Macedonia Street, the main pedestrian street, connects Macedonia Square to the Old Railway Station (destroyed by the 1963 earthquake), which houses the City of Skopje Museum. Along Macedonia Street is the Mother Teresa Memorial House, which features an exhibit of art facts from Mother Teresa's life.
    [Show full text]
  • The Differential Impact of War and Trauma on Kosovar Albanian Women Living in Post-War Kosova
    The Differential Impact of War and Trauma on Kosovar Albanian Women Living in Post-War Kosova Hanna Kienzler Department of Anthropology McGill University, Montreal June 2010 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © 2010 Hanna Kienzler Abstract The war in Kosova had a profound impact on the lives of the civilian population and was a major cause of material destruction, disintegration of social fabrics and ill health. Throughout 1998 and 1999, the number of killings is estimated to be 10,000 with the majority of the victims being Kosovar Albanian killed by Serbian forces. An additional 863,000 civilians sought or were forced into refuge outside Kosova and 590,000 were internally displaced. Moreover, rape and torture, looting, pillaging and extortion were committed. The aim of my dissertation is to rewrite aspects of the recent belligerent history of Kosova with a focus on how history is created and transformed through bodily expressions of distress. The ethnographic study was conducted in two Kosovar villages that were hit especially hard during the war. In both villages, my research was based on participant observation which allowed me to immerse myself in Kosovar culture and the daily activities of the people under study. The dissertation is divided into four interrelated parts.The first part is based on published accounts describing how various external power regimes affected local Kosovar culture, and how the latter was continuously transformed by the local population throughout history. The second part focuses on collective memories and explores how villagers construct their community‟s past in order to give meaning to their everyday lives in a time of political and economic upheaval.
    [Show full text]
  • Mag. Dr. Vedran Dzihic - CV
    Mag. Dr. Vedran Dzihic - CV CURRICULUM VITAE Family name: Dzihic First name: Vedran Date of birth: 10-09-1976 Nationality: Bosnian Civil status: Not married Sporkenbühelgasse 2/29, 1090 Vienna, Austria Cell-Phone: 0043 650 777 88 92 E-Mail: [email protected] EDUCATION 1986-1996 Middle School and Gymnasium, Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, A levels (Matura) 1993-1995 AHS Gymnasium Kurzwiese, Eisenstadt, A levels (Matura) 1995-1999 Study of Political Sciences, Communication Sciences, History at the University of Vienna 1999 MA with honours 2008 PhD with honours on “Ethnonationalism revisited – Ethnopolitics and ethnic statehood in Post-Dayton-Bosnia”, Mentors: Helmut Kramer, University of Vienna, Rainer Bauböck, European Institute, Florence, and Dieter Segert, University of Vienna PRESENT POSITIONS Lecturer at the Institute for Political Sciences, University of Vienna (teaching major courses on international relations and seminars on the Western Balkans) Senior Researcher and Project Co-Chief of Party, Project “Transformation and Democratization of the Balkans. Comparing Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia) Lecturer at the Institute for Slavic Studies, University of Vienna Lecturer at the postgraduate MA-studies “Balkan-Studies” (Vienna) Lecturer at the MA Balkans Programme at the Comenius University in Bratislava Lecturer at the Postgraduate Studies “Humanitarian and State Affairs” at the University in Sarajevo Editor-in-chief of “Balkan-Anders” (Vienna) Vienna Office Director of CEIS (Center for European Integration Strategies), Geneva-Sarajevo-Vienna
    [Show full text]
  • Prishtina Insight
    Opinion: Microfinance Law - This is a Bank Robbery April 27 - May 10, 2012 Issue No. 87 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 From Pasture NEWS Pacolli to “Power Misled over Neighbourhood” Ministerial In four years, agricultural Credit Card land on the edge of Use Prishtina, once owned by an elderly Serb farmer, has > page 4 been transformed into one of the wealthiest neigh- NEWS bourhoods in the country, Black Market in soon to be home to Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, for- Heart of mer Interior Minister Zenun Government Pajaziti, alongside a host of > page 5 other top businessmen, NEWS politicians and public figures. Kosovo Albanians See Page 18-19 Pack up in Troubled North Kosovo’s Travel-Happy MPs > page 6 FEATURE Vetevendosje Keep Fail to Tackle Election Fraud Faith in Graffiti Despite numerous foreign ‘study’ trips, mostly funded by the taxpayer, a parliamentary committee tasked with electoral > page 14-15 reform has failed to come up with any changes. COMMUNITY FOCUS electoral fraud that was noticed continue to misuse [the election over the past 12 months. Media Threaten By Genc Nimoni , Artan Mustafa in the December 2010 parliamen- process] to survive in the politi- So far 18 committee meetings Boycotts Over Law tary elections. cal scene”. have taken place for which each embers of the Kosovo par- The travel-loving committee member was paid about 1,440 euro- liament have received has now asked for three more Foreign travel galore: for participating, while its chair- Mthousands of euro in com- months to come to some recom- man, Haki Demolli, received 3,600 pensation for committee meetings, mendations.
    [Show full text]
  • New Row Buffets Scandal-Hit Kosovo Passport Contract from Page 1 Documents to Misappropriate About 7,400 Euro
    Opinion: The New Year in Kosovo Jan 18 - 31, 2013 Issue No. 103 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 NEWS Sparkes: Privatisation Tangle Leaves Buyer Politics Unusable Business Weigh on > page 3 NEWS EULEX Gjakova Dumps Laws In Rush for EU rule of law mission’s Trash Power former deputy chief says > page 5 successes in fighting NEWS corruption are under- Kosovo and Serbia played - but pressures to preserve Kosovo’s stabil- Militias Threaten ity have sometimes got Violence in the way. > page 6 See Page 4 FEATURE Rise of Conservative Islamists Alarms New Row Buffets Scandal-Hit Kosovars Kosovo Passport Contract Austrian company and Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs are locked into a tax dispute over a 14 million euro contract already rocked by allegations of theft and bribery. > page 12-13 By Jeton Musliu, Florent Spahija and back to 2011. Haziraj said the contract required November 2012 after she failed to CULTURE Kreshnik Gashi At the Austrians’ request, the the Austrian State Printing House transfer 1.4 million euro from the two sides have now suspended fur- to pay VAT on the passports it sends Interior Ministry to the Austrian Kosovo Textbooks osovo’s Interior Ministry ther talks until next week. to Kosovo. It is impossible to verify State Printing House, which had and the Austrian company The company declined to com- Haziraj’s claim because the min- hired her as a subcontractor. Soften Line on Kthat prints the country’s biometric passports are in a dis- ment, but Interior Ministry istry has not released the contract. The money from the Interior Ottoman Rule pute over taxes.
    [Show full text]
  • ADRIAN KRASNIQI PUSHKA E UҪK-Së!
    ADRIAN KRASNIQI PUSHKA E UҪK-së! (DËSHMI ARKIVORE) Sheradin Berisha "Veprimtarinë patriotike që jam duke e zhvilluar unë do të kishit zhvilluar edhe ju, por fati deshi që unë njëherë për njëherë t'i përgjigjem thirrjes së atdheut, që bijtë e tij t'i dalin zot në këto momente të vështira dhe tejet kritike, duke mos kursyer as gjënë më të shtrenjtë "Jetën". Si anëtar i organizatës militante UҪK, për borxhin ndaj atdheut dhe për betimin e bërë para shokëve, më duhet të qëndroj besnik i kësaj "rruge deri në vdekje". (Fragment nga letra e Ushtarit të Ushtrisë Ҫlirimtare të Kosovës - Adrian Rexhep Krasniqi, dërguar vëllaut të tij Ilirit, në mars 1997) LINDJA DHE SHKOLLIMI Adrian Krasniqi (Rexha) padyshim është njëri nga protagonistët kryesorë të Ushtrisë Çlirimtare të Kosovës. Ka lindur më 11 tetor 1972 në familjen e njohur të Sylerxhëve të fshatit Vranoc, të Pejës, nga babai Rexhepi dhe nëna Majremja. Në moshën tetëvjeçare Adrianit i vdes babai, dhe ai bashkë me të vëllain, Ilirin, (përveç nënës shëndetligë) rriten nën përkujdesjen e gjyshes Fanë, xhaxhait Xhafer Krasniqi dhe dajëve të tyre. Adriani mësimet e para i mori në shkollën fillore "Vëllazërimi" në Baran, ndërsa shkollën e mesme e kreu në gjimnazin "Bedri Pejani" në Pejë. Në vitet 1991 - 1993 studimet i vijoi në Fakultetin Ekonomik në Universitetin e Prishtinës, dhe pastaj në Fakultetin Ekonomik në Universitetin e Tiranës. GRUPI ILEGAL 'BESA' Qysh si nxënës i shkollës së mesme (1988/89) ai u dallua në organizimin e demonstratave në qytetin e Pejës, përkundër kërcënimeve se mund të përjashtohet nga gjimnazi.
    [Show full text]
  • 882329.En Pe 476.499
    Question for written answer E-010256/2011 to the Commission Rule 117 Pino Arlacchi (S&D), Guido Milana (S&D), Vincent Peillon (S&D), Victor Boştinaru (S&D), Evgeni Kirilov (S&D), Fiorello Provera (EFD) and Mario Mauro (PPE) Subject: VP/HR - EULEX witness protection program In the answer to question E–004539/2011 of 10 May 2011 (by Pino Arlacchi) about the protection of witnesses and judges in Kosovo, the Vice-President/High Representative stated: ‘EULEX has developed a highly professional witness security unit, able to offer protection to witnesses and where appropriate seek relocation out of Kosovo. Experience has shown that the mission is capable of handling high-level and sensitive cases involving protected witnesses’. Agim Zogaj, a key witness in the war crimes trial against Fatmir Limaj, a top former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (now one of the most powerful politicians in the country), was found dead last week in the German city of Duisburg. Fatmir Limaj has been under house arrest since last September, awaiting trial on charges of killing and torturing Serbian and Albanian prisoners during the Kosovo war. Mr Zogaj was under witness protection from the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). The inability of EULEX to protect Mr Zogaj is an appalling failure that has cast strong doubts over international efforts to establish the rule of law in the region. EULEX has declined to comment on the death and issued only a short statement saying that ‘witness protection and security are extremely sensitive issues and we will not confirm nor deny any operational details’.
    [Show full text]