Opinion: Energy Lesson from South Africa December 23. 2011 - January 12. 2012 Issue No. 78 www.prishtinainsight.com Price € 1 Bosnian Victims NEWS Mayor’s Heap Praise on Son Owns Jolie’s Wartime Luxury Drama Resort Angelina Jolie’s directori- > page 3 al debut In the Land of Blood and Honey about NEWS the 1992-1995 war in Kosovo Serb Bosnia, has won plaudits Brothers Arrested from the likes of corre- on Weapons Charges spondent Christiane Amanpour who attended > page 5 its red carpet premiere in NEIGHBOURHOOD New York City last week. Hunt for Bodies But another group of Dutch Buried in critics whose voice Jolie values have also given Srebrenica overwhelmingly positive > page 11 reviews. See Page 15 FEATURE Balkan Capitals Vie for New Year’s Cleared Bank Governor to Eve Crown > page 14 Sue for Compensation INSIDE PRISHTINA The lawyer of Hashim Rexhepi, the former governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo, has told Prishtina Insight that his Students Drag client intends to sue for compensation after the high-profile corruption case against him collapsed. According to the judgment, outside the building to film the by Prishtina Insight had already Prishtina By Petrit Collaku obtained by Prishtina Insight, police action. cast serious doubt on the case Buses Gallo also reserves some harsh Under the supervision of the against Rexhepi and Himaj, reveal- awyer Rame Gashi has words for the prosecution. He EU’s rule-of-law mission in ing major mistakes in the prosecu- Into 21st revealed that former CBK argues that the prosecution had Kosovo, EULEX, Kosovo Police tion’s case and serious breaches of LChief Hashim Rexhepi will Century seek compensation for the damage “completely misunderstood” some swooped on Rexhepi, the head of the defendant’s human rights. to his client’s reputation and earn- of the offences the former gover- the supervision department, Himaj was cleared of all wrong- > page 18 ings, if EULEX prosecution fails to nor was being accused of, had Shkendije Himaj, and the former doing this summer and returned overturn the judge’s decision to made factual errors and, for one supervisor of insurance compa- to her job, without ever having dismiss the case against him. count, had not presented a “single nies, Ibish Mazreku. been charged. The comments came after piece of evidence”. It was one of the most high-pro- An indictment was then filed EULEX judge Gianfranco Gallo Rexhepi, the first governor of file corruption arrests to have against Rexhepi and Mazreku in Kosovo’s only English-language ruled that the prosecution had pre- independent Kosovo’s Central been carried out by EULEX and August after the most serious newspaper is available: sented evidence that Rexhepi’s Bank, was arrested in spectacular Kosovo Police. Today, however, the charges were removed. behaviour had been inappropriate, fashion on July 23, 2010, as a case stands in tatters. Delivered to but not illegal. throng of reporters was on hand An investigation earlier this year continues page 2 Your Door Prishtina Insight Honoured For Kosovo Pushes Controversial From Newsstands Anti-Corruption Investigation Energy Sale across Kosovo The Balkan Investigative Reporting Kosovo’s government has invited four Sent To Network in Prishtina was honoured with prequalified foreign companies to submit Your Inbox two awards from the Association of bids to buy Kosovo’s distribution network Professional Journalists of Kosovo, the by February 28, 2012. United Nations Development Programme, One of Kosovo’s largest privatizations is From UNDP, and the Anti-Corruption Agency. moving to conclusion, despite the ques- our partners The awards were given on world anti-cor- tions raised by civil society and the opposi- news ruption day, December 9... page 2 business tion about the inexperience... page 7 see page 16 for more info is supported by: 2 Dec. 23, 2011 - Jan. 12, 2012 news Cleared Bank Governor to Sue for Compensation from page 1 sion he benefited directly from. which is a breach of international While Rexhepi has been cleared, standards of justice. But the case against Rexhepi Mazreku will face charges of abus- This emerged only in a hearing was dismissed by EULEX judge ing his official position by receiv- on October 20 about renewing Gianfranco Gallo last week ing 36,000 euro from an insurance Rexhepi’s pre-trial detention, three because of lack of evidence. company during the time he was months after Rexhepi was arrested A copy of the judgment, responsible for supervising it. and detained. obtained by this newspaper, con- EULEX told Prishtina Insight The judges’ panel closed the firms that the prosecution’s case that it had filed an appeal which hearing after the prosecution remained thin on evidence and, at will be looked at in the New Year. promised to produce new, named times, inaccurate. “For some of the counts the rea- evidence the following day. Out of the five counts, Gallo soning for the dismissal was based The new documents, branded as ruled that in three Rexhepi’s on the consideration that, even “crucial” by the judge, were in fact actions did not constitute criminal though the former Governor handed over that same day outside behaviour. The judge argued that undertook some inappropriate the court and were not provided to the allegations that Rexhepi had actions, his conduct was not the defence. Despite this, the judge been “trading in influence” linked to the exertion of any offi- extended Rexhepi’s detention for a showed the prosecution had “com- cial power or authority and there- month. pletely misunderstood” the mean- fore no abuse of official position The defence then appealed and, ing of the offence. The two other could have occurred,” a spokes- in a hearing on October 26, EULEX courts were dismissed because of woman said. judges ruled that anonymous mate- lack of evidence. “In other counts the judge did rial should not have been used. Regarding the second charge – not find sufficient evidence to sup- Hashim Rexhepi is led away in handcuffs from the Central Bank. They also accepted that the failure that Rexhepi had misused his posi- port a well-grounded suspicion had all risked the wrath of senior linked to the Central Bank. This to present the new evidence to the tion to exert pressure on a private that the defendant committed members of the country’s political allegation was dropped in later defence breached the European bank to sponsor the Prishtina’s other criminal offences indicated elite in the preceding months. legal documents, which instead Convention on Human Rights. The basketball club – the judge found in the indictment. Governor Rexhepi had rebuffed named his son as a part owner of charges based on the anonymous that the prosecution had made “The independent prosecution attempts by the then Minister of the firm. letters were then removed, but mistakes in their “factual recon- is crucial in every democratic soci- Economy, Ahmet Shala, to reverse It was also asserted that Rexhepi were later reinstated. struction” of events. ety.” a decision not to license an insur- was president of Prishtina Andrea Capussela, who headed The judge confirmed that the ance company with unusual ori- Football Club, and that the club the financial office of the sponsorship was agreed before A Flawed Case? gins, for example. had benefited from a donation International Civilian Office, ICO, Rexhepi was appointed to the Bank supervision head Himaj made by a bank, Bank for has been a supporter Rexhepi board of the club. A BIRN investigation, published had launched a programme to Business, after Rexhepi allegedly throughout the case. The prosecution had charged in April, revealed that Central reform the insurance industry, put pressure on it. In a comment for the Prishtina Rexhepi with using his influence Bank Governor Rexhepi was including major changes to the In fact, he was a board member daily Zeri he wrote that the as governor of the bank to allow forced from his post on the basis of highly profitable vehicle border of the city’s basketball club, an charges appeared to have been part the insurance company Dardania charges that were full of errors - insurance scheme, controlled by error noted in later legal docu- of a political campaign to oust to write off the amount of nearly 2 and following a concerted cam- Gani Thaci, brother to Prime ments by the prosecution, who Rexhepi. million Deutsche Marks of debt. paign against him by Kosovo’s Minister Hashim Thaci. blamed it on incorrect information “What is certain is that EULEX But the judge found that the political elite. The investigation and raids were received from the Central Bank. prosecutors and judges have assertion that Rexhepi had bene- According to legal documents approved by an EU pre-trial judge, Another allegation suggested arrested and detained, for four fited from this was not backed up obtained by Prishtina Insight, the based on a charge sheet that that Rexhepi received seaside prop- months, an innocent based on by a “single piece of evidence”. case against Rexhepi, Himaj and reveals basic errors and unverified erty in Albania as a bribe from the charges and evidence that haven’t The judge however criticised the others was littered with errors facts, according to evidence that insurance firm, Dardania. But no withstood proper judicial scruti- Rexhepi’s action on a number of and partly based on anonymous Prishtina Insight has seen. evidence was produced concerning ny,” he wrote. accounts claiming that while his letters, a procedure that breaches According to Rexhepi, EULEX his acquisition of real estate in “The mistakes they committed actions may not have been illegal, basic principles of the rule of law. had not translated all the case evi- Albania.