The next guest in ‘Prishtina Forum 2013’ a debate with political parties candidates in Prishtina , was Besnk Tahiri from AAK.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.
Prishtina, 9 October – Today, Movement FOL and PIPS began a series of debates with political parties’ candidates in Pristina. In the first debate was invited Shpend Ahmeti from Levizja Vetenendosje (Self-Determination Movement). In the following days, there will be other debates with other candidates for Pristina.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.
Podujeva, October 8, 2013 – Movement FOL, within the project “getting closer citizens with justice institutions”, which is funded by the American people through USAID / ATRC, held the second meeting of the “Justice Access Forum” in the municipality of Podujeva. At this forum participated representatives of the Court, Prosecution, Police, representatives from the Ombudsman, representatives from Legal Assistance Centre, representatives from the Chamber of Attorneys, NGOs, media and interested citizens in the municipality of Podujeva. Present at this meeting was also the representative of Kosovo Judicial Council, Aishe Qorraj-Berisha.
Kenan Torah from Movement FOL, initially thanked the participants for attendance and then made a short presentation of the first meeting of the forum and other activities in order to improve the communication between citizens and institutions of justice, stressing particularly the need of the improvement of this communication.
After that, Aishe Qorraj-Berisha from Kosovo Judicial Council first of all thanked Movement FOL for their commitment in getting closer citizens with justice institutions. She went on to talk about the organization of Kosovo Judicial Council and its bodies, and how the interested parties can be informed.
Furthermore, Qorraj- Berisha spoke chronologically about the problems of judicial institutions since the post-war period, emphasizing the insufficient number of judges and stressed that there are only eight judges in Podujeva. She promised the audience that all the concerns that were discussed at this forum will be forwarded to Kosovo Judicial Council.
Minir Hoti, a judge in Podujeva Court began by talking about the problems that judges are facing every day, stressing particularly the pile up of the cases since the time when in Podujeva was only one judge. He said that there is an improvement of the situation after the reform, but the municipality needs another four judges because the number of the cases is large, and regarding communication with citizens, he admitted that there is room for improvement.
Meanwhile, Fazli Veliu from Radio Vizioni said that he agrees with the problems that were mentioned by previous speakers, stressing the cooperation between media and justice institutions as not very good. He recommended that the Basic Court of Pristina – Podujeva Branch, at least once a year should hold a press conference to present the work done by this court.
Xhevat Rama, a lawyer also mentioned the problem of the backlog of the cases, adding that Podujeva has always had problems with lack of judges and annual reports show the nature of the cases that this court is solving, and which are of slight importance, and it is harder the assignment of the case than completion of the case. He added that there may seem improvements but in reality there are no improvements.
Finally, Hasan Përvetica, also a lawyer said that a delayed justice is not justice and judicial reforms are failures, and Kosovo Judicial Council is to blame because they have powers for this.
Then he mentioned the extremely complicated procedures for appointment of judges and judges are not to blame because they are trying their best.
Përvetica added that there is a lot to do for improvement in communications between citizens and justice institutions, and also in improving the performance of the courts.
Gjakova, October 4, 2013 – Today, Movement FOL, within the project “Getting closer people to justice institutions”, which is funded by the American people through USAID / ATRC, held the second meeting of the “Justice Access Forum” in Gjakova municipality. Participants at the meeting were representatives of the Court, Prosecution, Police, from Ombudsman, Legal Assistance Centre, representatives from Chamber of Attorneys, NGOs, media and interested citizens of the municipality of Gjakova. Present at this meeting was also the representative of the Kosovo Judicial Council Aishe Qorraj-Berisha.
Initially, Kenan Torah from Movement FOL welcomed the participants and made a brief presentation of the first meeting of the forum and other activities which aim to improve the communication between citizens and justice institutions. He mentioned the difficulties that are encountered during attempts to monitor hearing sessions, and that so far, in the Basic Court in Gjakova was not held any hearings on the cases of misuse of public funds or corruption. He stressed the need to increase the level and quality of communication between citizens and justice institutions.
Aishe Qorraj-Berisha, representative from KJC, encouraged FOL Movement for their ideas and commitment in this area. She presented the overall performance of the KJC h and also mentioned and acknowledged the problems and challenges of the judiciary starting with low budget, lack of judges and the large number of cases. She further mentioned that in Gjakova they don’t have an official on public relations that would facilitate communication with citizens, although each court has the monitor where hearings data are presented.
After that Lulzim Paqarizi from the Basic Court in Gjakova said that courts are in a transitional phase. There are too many cases but there are not enough judges, there are no sufficient human resources that we would complete all the cases presented in court. He further added that the Basic Court in Gjakova has 14 judges, Rahovec Court has six judges and Malisheva Court has five judges. He also noted that there is no Detention Center in Gjakova. There are 17 cases on corruption and abuse of authority in the Basic Court in Gjakova, but they are assigned for trial yet.
Nora Dobruna from the Legal Assistance Council said that communication between courts and judges with citizens, each day is improved more and more. Citizens mainly express disappointment over the delay of cases.
While discussing, Ali Juniku, a citizen from Gjakova expressed disappointment about the length of his case in court and said that courts are corrupted and that corruption is the reason of the bad performance of the courts.
Vjollca Kuqi from Women Network ” Qeliza ” said that courts communication with citizens is poor and this is because of the excessive bureaucracy.
Halil Kaja from the Center for Business and Community Development expressed his concern about the phenomenon of racketeering in Gjakova, which according to him each day more and more is harmin business and entrepreneurship.
At the end, Linda Sada from Civil Society Forum asked that Justice Access Forum should be held regularly, as it is obvious that there is a need to improve the level of communication between citizens and justice institutions.
Prishtina, October 02, 2013 – Movement FOL supported by the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo, held the second Discussion – Forum on “Anti-Corruption Legal Package – The Law on Protection of Informers” respectively on the observations and recommendations of meetings organized by FOL in some municipalities of Kosovo where the law in question was discussed.
At the meetings organized in Ferizaj, Gjakova, Prizren, Mitrovica, Gjilan and Peja were expressed concerns about the legal gaps and the low level of implementation of the Law on Protection of Informers. Observations and recommendations from these meetings, where participants were public officials of the local level, representatives of various companies, both public and private, civil society and citizens of Republic of Kosovo, have encouraged organization of second Discussion – Forum. Participants at the meeting were representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Independent supervision Board for Civil Service of Kosovo, Kosovo Police – Directorate for Investigation of Economic Crimes, Kosovo municipalities and representatives of civil society.
Bajram Ajeti, Chairman of the Independent supervision Board for Civil Service of Kosovo, said that “Law on Protection of Informers is not limited only to anti-corruption field but it covers all areas which are protected by laws and constitution of Republic of Kosovo for the best of public.” He further added that “it is not only public institutions task to promote laws, but it is a task of non-governmental organizations as well”. Referring to concerns of law enforcement and especially the Law on Protection of Informers, he stressed that “there is a lack of proper communication between supervisors and employees regarding informing about the existence of laws in general,” he then said “every institution is obliged to implement the law, although there is a lack of the political will to implement these laws. “
Meanwhile, Baki Gimolli from the Department of Legal Affairs – Ministry of Justice, said that the “Law on Protection of Informers has emerged as a requirement of the Progress Report of the European Union”, stressing that “the law is specific and that no country in the region has approved such a law yet.” He further added that “on the other hand, the Law on Protection of Informers is well structured clarifying instances of receiving information in cases of abuse of authority.” Regarding to clarification of the norms of the Law on Protection of Informers, he claimed that “even though the law in general contains applicable norms, however, some of the norms of this law remain unimplemented due to improper budget planning when this law was approved.”
Hivzi Matoshi, a representative from Municipality of Gjilan, stated that “the main problem lies on the implementation of the Law on Protection of Informers, where officials are hesitant to provide information on abuses that occur in the institutions where they are employed.” He further added that “yet, assessing the situation, one could say there is political will to implement the law.”
Shemi Igrishta from Kosovo Police said “Kosovo Police is an institution respected by the citizens of Kosovo, and they are working to increase citizen confidence and encourage them to report violations of the law and irregularities that may observe”.
In this Discussion – Forum were given several recommendations, the most important ones among them are as follows:
– Establishment of Administrative Courts;
– Further promotion of complaints boxes in public institutions, at the same time defining the instances for receiving information on irregularities and misuse, as well as
– Providing funds in accordance with the approval of laws and their implementation in practice.
Prishtina, 30 September 2013 – According to the Law on Freedom of Association in the Republic of Kosovo and the statutes of the organization, on September 28, 2013, was held the meeting of the Assembly of Members of Movement FOL, which is the main decision making body in the organization.
In this meeting the members discussed about some changes in the statute of FOL Movement. In this case was appointed a committee composed of three members of the Assembly, which will deal with the changes proposed in this meeting and will make amendments to the Statute until the next meeting of the Members Assembly.
At the meeting was elected the Director of FOL Movement as well. With 30 votes in favor, two abstentions and one against, Petrit Zogaj was re-elected director of FOL Movement . The number of the members of the Assembly of FOL Movement is 41, and in this meeting were 33 of them present.
Petrit Zogaj is a cofounder of FOL Movement and since September 2011, he held the position of Executive Director. Petrit Zogaj graduated in Political Sciences at the University of Prishtina.
FOL Movement, thanks all the members of the Assembly for their contribution in achieving organization’s objectives .
Prishtina, September 19, 2013 – FOL Movement condemns the attack on EULEX Mission in Kosovo, where as a consequence a member of this mission was shot. We express our sincere condolences to the family of the victim and to Lithuania. FOL requires investigations of this case and bring the perpatratiors for trial as soon as possible.
We also, ask the local and international institutions to take immediate actions for all the crimes and murders that have been committed in the north of Kosovo, where for 14 years this part of the country has served as a shelter for criminals and murderers. Crime in that part does not recognize any government, local or international, and consequently there are cases like this happened today.
Political developments of this year should also remind Kosovo authorities, including EULEX to take control of the situation, because, Kosovo institutions have signed and ratified in the assembly international agreements.
Therefore, it is the last moment that the signatories of the agreements and those who guaranteed these agreements make clear to criminal structures in the north of the country that they soon will be accountable and responsible for their actions for more than a decade.
Prishtina, 18 September- FOL Movement in collaboration with the RIINVST Institute, in their efforts to come up with recommendations on issues that should be addressed in the case of amendments of the Law on Public Procurement, today held a meeting of the informal working group on the topic “Amendments of the Law on Public Procurement-issues to be addressed”. At this meeting were invited representatives of institutions of procurement, contracting authorities, chambers of commerce, civil society and representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry as the initial protagonists of the amendment process.
At this meeting, among the issues discussed were: electronic procurement issue, the issue of abnormally low and abnormally high prizes, the issue of evaluation of tenders based on the unit prices not only in in total price, the issue of discrimination during the preparation of technical specifications, the issue of immediate operation of the PRB. Among other things discussed, was the proposal of MTI, which was that with provisions of the Law on Public Procurement, companies and local products according to a certain quota, should be favored in public procurement processes even if they have more expensive offers, and the implementation of electronic procurement should become mandatory according to the new Law on Public Procurement.
All participants agreed to support these two proposals, and until next week, on behalf of the informal working group, they must come up with specific recommendations for each of the issues mentioned above. These recommendations will be sent to the legal office of the Prime Minister, as the sponsor of the amendment process, and to the Parliamentary Committee on Supervision of Public Finances, as a functional Committee.
This meeting was attended by Public Procurement Regulatory Commission, Competition Commission, Anti-Corruption Agency, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Public Administration, Ministry of Justice, Correctional Service of Kosovo, Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, Kosovo Business Alliance and ÇOHU.
Peja, September 13 – Today, FOL Movement, within a series of debates in municipalities regarding the “Law on Protection of Informers’ held the final meeting in Peja on the topic ” Anti-Corruption Legal Package: Law on Protection of Informers “. In this debate was discussed about the level of implementation of anti-corruption laws, respectively, the Law on Protection of Informers and on how many public officials denounce irregularities or illegal acts of corruption cases within their respective institutions.
At the beginning of the debate, Elbasan Racaj from FOL Movement, presented the findings and legal gaps of the law in question, both, in terms of provisions and sanctions as well as the perspective of experiences of public officials about the existence and content of the law. Among other things, he said that “about 73.6% of the officials are aware of the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers, while 23.4% are not aware of the existence of the law in question.” Furthermore, Elbasan Racaj added that public officials are even little informed when it comes to the content of the law “where only 15.3% of these officials seemed to have deeper knowledge, about 60% about average, 21% have too little, while 4% stated that they do not have any idea at all. “
Later on Mr. Pandeli Rugova, the representative of the legal office at the Municipality of Peja, declared that ” We are concerned with the level of implementation of the Law on Protection of Informers and with the implementation of other laws in general. This law is not being implemented and therefore there are no positive effects, it is at a very low stage of implementation”. Further, Mr. Rugova added that “the laws in general should be adapted to the political, social and economic environment in Kosovo before their approval by the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo “. Whereas, in terms of norms of the Law on Protection of Informers, Mr. Rugova added that “provisions and sanctions of the article on denunciation of the reporting individuals is challenging, because it is not clearly specified their protection”. In the end, Mr. Rugova stated that “There will be not lack of commitment on the implementation of laws, although often there are objective and subjective obstacles which obstruct the implementation of the laws.” According to him “One of the reasons why the law is implemented at a such low level is the lack of appointment of bodies and individuals responsible for the acceptance of information”.
Chief Executive of the Waste Company, Mr. Nexhat Avdullahu, stated that the law contains major deficiencies. Mr. Avdullahu added that “the law should provide the possibility of the informant to approach justice institutions in case of denunciation of corruption affairs.” He further said that “We must continue to promote the law in question.”
In the end, Mr. Ukë Selimaj stressed that “There should be various forms for public information about the laws and particularly the Law on Protection of Informers”.
Prishtina, September 12, 2013 – The Public Procurement Review is non-functional since July 31, 2013 when the mandate of 4 out of 5 of its board member was expired including the chairman. According to the Law on Public Procurement, PRB consists of five members, who are nominated by the Government and appointed by the Assembly for a 5 years term. Assembly of Kosovo forms a selecting body, which is independent, consisted of three judges appointed by Kosovo Judicial Council; the Parliament accepts the recommendations of this body for the new members of the PRB and then votes on.
Kosovo Government has neglected the legal terms and has not yet proposed the members of the PRB, who then will be sent to the Assembly for appointment.
The PRB has a very important role in the function of all public procurement sectors, being an institution which according to the Law on Public Procurement has the powers and responsibilities for reviewing complaints regarding public procurement procedures, the PRB is one of the instruments through which is spent most of the public money. Considering this, the public procurement is highly exposed to corruption and misuse.
In this period when the PRB is non – functional, procedures of procurement and signing of contracts by the institutions is going on, despite the economic operators are deprived from their legal right to appeal about certain issues. This situation may have consequences by harming public money and fair competition between economic operators.
Therefore, based on the competence of Kosovo Government to propose the members of the PRB and te Kosovo Assembly to appoint these members, we ask that these procedures are carried out as soon as possible, since the legal terms are already violated, and PRB should be functional to perform its task as provided by law.
Non-function of the PRB will further affect the growth of the opportunities for corruption and misuse considering the fact that most of the public money is spent through public procurement procedures.
Prishtina, September 4, 2013 – Today, FOL Movement published its report “Corruption Monitor – Corruption figures in Kosovo” for the period January-June 2013, which includes the summarized statistics of relevant institutions against corruption for the first six months the this year.
Kenan Torah, from FOL Movement, said: “This report is a product FOL Movement team in monitoring corruption and the efforts for attention and more increased support to the fight against corruption. According to him since 2010, FOL Movement has tried to present in the form of figures the efforts of institutions in their fight against corruption, and in accordance with this, even the European Commission in Kosovo Feasibility Report has required a standardization of statistics about institutional actions undertaken in the fight against corruption.
Racaj Elbasan, a researcher at the FOL Movement, referring to the findings of this report said that “Departments of Aggravated Crimes of Basic and Special Prosecution of Kosovo have filed 279 criminal charges against 637 individuals.” According to him “Prosecution of Kosovo transferred 281 criminal charges from the previous year, while the end of the reporting period 1140 criminal charges against 404 individuals remained unresolved. Basic Prosecutions also have solved 359 cases; however, the investigations are not accomplished against 177 persons. ”
According to this report neither Basic Courts of Kosovo had a better performance, during this period they have solved only 14 cases, in 2 cases the sentence was imprisonment, in 5 cases the perpetrators were fined, 5 probation cases and 2 cases with other penalties. On the other hand, these courts have 225 unsolved cases at the end of the reporting period.
Meanwhile, the statistics of the Department for Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption (DIECC) of Kosovo Police show that this department in the first six months of 2013 investigated 389 cases and arrested 49 different public officials. In addition, DIECC has sent 226 cases to the Prosecution with identified perpetrators, 5 cases with unknown perpetrators and 18 cases with Prosecutor’s special report.
Further, the Government of Kosovo has taken 183 verdicts, among them only one was on “fight” against corruption. Yet, referring to the statistics of this report, the Assembly of Kosovo held 26 plenary sessions, in four of them was discussed about the fight “against” corruption: a) Review of the Strategy and Action Plan against corruption for the period 2013-2017 b) second reading of the Draft Law on enhanced powers for confiscation of the property illegally obtained; c) Review of the draft Strategy and Action Plan against corruption for the years 2013-2017 and d) Review of Anti-Corruption Agency report for 2012.
Corruption figures in Kosovo: Anti-Corruption Statistics Platform January-June 2013
Gjilan, August 30 – FOL Movement, within the series of debates organized in municipalities on “Law on Protection of Informers’ held the next meeting in Gjilan on the topic “Anti-Corruption Legal Package: Law on Protection of Informers”. In this debate was discussed about the level of implementation of anti-corruption laws, respectively the Law on Protection of Informers and how public officials denounce irregularities or illegal acts of corruption cases within their respective institutions.
At the beginning of the debate, Elbasan Racaj from FOL Movement presented the findings and legal gaps of the law in question, both, in terms of provisions and sanctions as well as the perspective of experiences of public officials about the existence and content of the law. Among other things, he said that “about 73.6% of the officials are aware of the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers, while 23.4% are not aware of the existence of the law in question.” Furthermore, Elbasan Racaj added that public officials are even little informed when it comes to the content of the law “where only 15.3% of these officials seemed to have deeper knowledge, about 60% about average, 21% have too little, while 4% stated that they do not have any idea at all. “
The President of the Court in Gjilan, Zyhdi Haziri said that “every citizen of Kosovo, according to constitutional provisions is obliged to report corruption affairs that occur at the institutions which are in the service of these people.”Haziri specified that “the court where he is working, there are individuals appointed to supervise the irregularities and at the same time, there is a special room where people who want to report corruption can go and make their allegations, thus their identity will be protected. “
The next one to talk was, Qemajl Mustafa, the mayor of Gjilan Municipality who stated that “the initiative of FOL Movement is a good initiative in order to inform citizens and public institutions about the law on Protection of Informers and it is the citizen who profits from reporting corruption allegations. ” Then Mr. Mustafa stated that “there is corruption in the societies in transition, but we should find mechanisms to prevent and fight this extremely harmful phenomenon”.
Regarding the research published by FOL Movement, Mustafa specified that “encouraging people to report corruption allegations should be made by promoting the institutions that will preserve the anonymity of these individuals. Concerning this, our municipality has established a phone line for those who want to report cases of misuse in the institutions where they work. “The mayor also stressed that ” there is the municipal attorney’s office, which is responsible for receiving information on misuse cases but the number of the reports is very small .”
Later during the debate, Mr. Ismail Kurteshi from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement) stated that “the problem is not the Law on Protection of Informers; it is all about the distrust that people have to report corruption allegations. According to him “if there is no political will on the part of public institutions to deal to the end with corruption and misuse cases, then every law and every report will remain in the drawer”. Kurteshi emphasize that “it is not a matter of fear of citizens to report, because there are people and organizations that have openly denounced and continue to denounce corruption at various levels. But, there is a lack of commitment of institutions to prevent misuse cases and corruption in general. “Alban Hyseni, from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement) said that “the law is generalized and does not guarantee the protection of informers”.
Fadil Gashi from AAK party stressed that “naming the Law on Protection of Informers is to blame the most, and it should be changed over time.” Gashi also emphasize that “it is strange that the Assembly could approve a law like this which contains so many legal gaps”. Further, Gashi said that “one of the most disturbing components that come from the research carried out by FOL Movement is the low level of knowledge of public officials about the existence and content of the Law on Protection of Informers”.
Gazmend Murseli from NGO ANP-Gjilan stressed that “there is no promotion of the Law on Protection of Informers by public institutions”. According to him we should continue promoting the law and at the same time we should require more responsibility from officials who are obliged to fight corruption.
Prishtina, August 23, 2013 – Today, representatives of FOL Movement met the Chief of Kosovo Judicial Council Mr. Enver Peci. During the meeting they discussed the possibility of further cooperation between this institution and FOL Movement, particularly preventing and fighting corruption in the country.
At this meeting was also discussed the establishment of the Justice Access Forum in Gjakova and Peja and the possibility of creating such forums in seven other municipalities, where the main goal will be getting closer citizens with justice institutions. Mr. Peci promised to support FOL Movement in this matter.
Further, Petrit Zogaj from FOL Movement informed the Head of the Judicial Council, about the engagement of FOL for creating a unified statistics platform on anti-corruption. Mr. Peci promised that FOL Movement will continue to have access to all anti-corruption statistics issued by this institution.
Prishtina, August 14, 2013 – Today representatives of FOL Movement had a meeting with the State Chief Prosecutor, Mr. Ismet Kabashi. During the meeting they discussed about the possibility of further cooperation between this institution and FOL Movement, especially preventing and fighting corruption.
In meantime, Petrit Zogaj from FOL Movement informed the State Chief Prosecutor about the work of the organization, and specifically its commitment to create a unified statistics platform on anti-corruption and then he also stressed the importance and the need for a greater cooperation between prosecution and civil society in general.
During this meeting Mr.Kabashi, promised FOL Movement that they will continue to have access to all anti-corruption statistics issued by their institution and there will be cooperation in the future as well.
August 7, 2013 – Today, FOL Movement, within a series of debates in municipalities regarding the “Law on Protection of Informers’ held the next meeting in Mitrovica on the topic” Anti-Corruption Legal Package: Law on Protection of Informers “. In this debate was discussed about the level of implementation of anti-corruption laws, respectively, the Law on Protection of Informers and on how public officials denounce irregularities or illegal acts of corruption cases within their respective institutions.
At the beginning of the debate, Elbasan Racaj from FOL Movement, presented the findings and legal gaps of the law in question, both, in terms of provisions and sanctions as well as the perspective of experiences of public officials about the existence and content of the law. Among other things, he said that “about 73.6% of the officials are aware of the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers, while 23.4% are not aware of the existence of the law in question.” Furthermore, Elbasan Racaj added that public officials are even little informed when it comes to the content of the law “where only 15.3% of these officials seemed to have deeper knowledge, about 60% about average, 21% have too little, while 4% stated that they do not have any idea at all.”Then the debate was opened for discussion.
The Director of the Administration in Mitrovica Municipality, Abdullah Bejtullahu, said, “This law should have been discussed earlier.” He then added that, “there is not that much information about this law in the Municipality of Mitrovica, only 60 % of them are aware about the existence of this law. He went on, “Mitrovica Municipality has no official person to supervise the irregularities, and thus the informant usually passes the information directly to his superior, which means in a hierarchical manner.” He further stated that, “based on my personal experience as director of public administration we had no whistleblower reporting irregularities.”
Later on, Director of Procurement, Sefik Fazliu said, “I heard about the law in question just recently.” He then said that there was no any reporting in the department where he works. According to the Director of Procurement, “the informant should be careful denouncing false information and should respect the provisions of this law.”
While Avni Alidemaj from Civil Initiative for Protection of Human Rights in Mitrovica said that he had not any knowledge about the law in question, until this meeting organized by the Movement “FOL”. In this case, Alidemaj, blames it on the respective institutions for not promoting enough this law. He also stated that except gaps in the provisions of this law, on the other hand there is no Administrative Court, which would probably be the most competent body to process these cases, because other courts, respectively the Basic Courts don’t take it seriously reporting of any possible about any affair of corruption or any irregularities committed by municipal officials.
Hysni Syla, municipal official in Mitrovica said, “the percentage shown from the research of Movement “FOL”, which states that 73% of public officials have knowledge about the law, does not correspond with reality, because it is thought that there are less officials who are aware of the law. “He further added that,” this law has major deficiencies, which initially did not ensure anonymity of the reporter and does not provide protection for reporter. “
During the discussion Selvije Kurti, a Civil Society activist said, “The law is confusing especially in Section 2.1.1, where it is not clear if this law refers only to public officials or to citizens at the same time.”She further added that,” this law should be promoted because according to this law the administration in the municipality of Mitrovica has no knowledge regarding the law. “
Fahrije Kabashi, also activists of Civil Society in Mitrovica stressed that “civil society should be involved in this law along with other categories provided in Article 2.1.2 of of Law on the Protection of Informers”.
Podujeva, August 6, 2013 – FOL Movement, within the project “Getting closer people to justice institutions”, which is funded by the American people through USAID / ATRC, held the first meeting for the formation of the “Justice Access Forum” in Podujeva Municipality. At this forum were representatives of the Court, Police, representatives of the Chamber of Attorneys, NGOs, media and interested citizens in the municipality of Podujeva.
Kenan Tora, Project Coordinator at FOL Movement, initially presented to the participants the idea of the formation of the forum and its goals, and then Granit Thaci, the local coordinator of FOL Movement, presented the findings on the difficulties encountered to access the information on court cases, on the attempts to monitor hearing sessions on the cases of corruption and abuse of authority. He stated that even the most basic information such as the number of the cases that are in the court of Podujeva, has been impossible to obtain from the court in question, thus we had to contact Kosovo Judicial Council to provide these information.
Minir Hoti, a judge, informed that according to the new law, cases of corruption and abuse of authority now are in charge of the Department for Serious Crimes of the Basic Court in Pristina, and all the cases were transferred there and no longer are in Podujeva, but the transferred cases have been recorded in the database. In addition to this, he said that there is a monitor to inform interested parties about the time of the court hearings but he couldn’t tell how functional this monitor was. Likewise, Mr. Hoti stressed the lack of capacity in the court of Podujeva and the large number of the cases which harden the work of judges.
Hasan Përvetica, a lawyer said that in Kosovo’s justice system were done only experiments and the results of reforms were minor. Përvetica also mentioned the lack of a residential prosecutor in Podujeva and except of delays in proceeding there are also delays in the enforcement of verdicts.
During the discussion Fadil Halimi, a journalist stated that during his work as a journalist he has monitored hearings and affirmed that there are difficulties in accessing relevant information in court and he hoped that the meetings of the Justice Access Forum will have a positive impact in this matter.
Fatmir Potera, from Kosovo Police promised his support to the forum and noted that the lack of a residential prosecutor in Podujeva is causing problems and delays to the work of Kosovo Police.
Nexhat Tovërlani, a reporter from Koha Ditore said that there are cases where court officials seem to be uninformed about their competences. He then said that once he had to contact the Kosovo Judicial Council to provide accurate information since that court officials had no idea about the respective case.
Malsor Neziri a citizen from Podujeva told a personal case of his own, where the trial had lasted 10 years, and expressed his concern about the impact that can be made on certain judges from interested parties.
All participants expressed their support to continue the work of the Forum because they believe that they can have a positive impact in improving the performance of the justice system.
FOL Movement hopes the Forum meetings will be regular in future.
This project is funded by the American people through USAID / ATRC.
Prizren, August, 06 – Today, FOL Movement, within a series of debates in municipalities regarding the “Law on Protection of Informers’ held the next meeting in Prizren on the topic” Anti-Corruption Legal Package: Law on Protection of Informers “. In this debate was discussed about the level of implementation of anti-corruption laws, respectively, the Law on Protection of Informers and on how public officials denounce irregularities or illegal acts of corruption cases within their respective institutions.
At the beginning of the debate, Elbasan Racaj from FOL Movement, presented the findings and legal gaps of the law in question, both, in terms of provisions and sanctions as well as the perspective of experiences of public officials about the existence and content of the law. Among other things, he said that “about 73.6% of the officials are aware of the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers, while 23.4% are not aware of the existence of the law in question.” Furthermore, Elbasan Racaj added that public officials are even little informed when it comes to the content of the law “where only 15.3% of these officials seemed to have deeper knowledge, about 60% about average, 21% have too little, while 4% stated that they do not have any idea at all.
On the other hand, under-Ruzhdi Rexha, the Mayor of Prizren said that, “He was notified from FOL Movement regarding the law in question when he received the invitation for meeting. He further said that this law is in contradiction with law on civil servants, namely Article 56 of this law, which obliges public officials to maintain confidentiality within the workplace. He also said that the law was confused with Kosovo Intelligence Agency. Rexha further said, “The Municipality of Prizren on 16 July of this year, with a legal action has appointed responsible individuals, where one of them is thought to be an official for receiving information on irregularities within the municipality, based on this law.”
The Chief Prosecutor of the Basic Prosecution in Prizren sees it as necessary the implementation of this law in practice, recommending at the same time changing the name of the law. He further added that, “There are officials who denounce irregularities”, but he didn’t give any concrete figure.
The business community was represented by, Liman Asllani, who said that the law itself is confusing and is often confused with the law on Witness Protection. He also added that the law has many deficiencies, it doesn’t protect the identity of the informers, and according to this law the rights of the informers are protected by his superior.
On the other hand Arber Rexhaj from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (Self-determination), said, “Whistleblowers should be encouraged when giving information.” He further added that, “justice in Prizren is politicized and selective”. Rexhaj stated that, “there are people, in Prizren, who were fired because of reporting corruption affairs.”
Munir Basha from Conservative Party said that “the law has many deficiencies and does not provide sufficient protection for informers.” He further added that, “there should be political will to fight corruption in the municipality of Prizren.”It is exactly the lack of political will that made this law have many disadvantages.
The participant, Afrim Tejeci from Business Association in Prizren, stressed that the implementation of this law should have an impact on the country’s businesses. Lack of safety of informants when reporting and the lack of their protection by municipal structures, according to Tejeci, will have implications on foreign investments in Kosovo.
Elmedina Baxhaku, a representatives from civil society, respectively the NGO “Ec më Ndryshe”, showed her practical experience when monitoring the Municipality of Prizren, mentioning that officials are afraid to issue a document which is public and let alone to denounce any irregularities within their municipality. Further she added that, “there should be a greater promotion of law and that the officials who are responsible for receiving the information must be appointed as soon as possible by decision makers in the municipality of Prizren.
Bariu Zenelaj from organization “ATTA” stated that the mistakes were done during the drafting of the law, since in many cases the competent personnel in the drafting of this law were not invited. He further said that there was no public debate on this law and the same law should be amended.
Prishtina, August 5 – Today, FOL Movement published its regular report “Procurement Monitor” for the period April-June 2013. This report reflects law violations and irregularities of the ministries, public enterprises (KEC and PTK) and municipalities in the development of public procurement procedures identified by the PRB.
Kenan Tora from FOL Movement presented the purpose and methodology of the report and said that “the trend of law violations and irregularities by the Ministries, Public Enterprise (KEK and PTK) and Municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo during the public procurement procedures has increased in this period of this year. In the period April-June, the above-mentioned institutions have committed violations in 29 different tenders. The Procurement Review Body returned 14 tenders out of 29 for re-evaluation, seven were returned for re-tendering, and 3 were canceled, while the in other 5 was interfered in the tender dossier.
According to the findings of this report, the ministries did not respect legal provisions of the Law on Public Procurement in 8 different tenders, the Ministry of Infrastructure has committed violations in four different procurement activities, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Trade and Industry in one tender.
Public Enterprises (KEC and PTK) have committed violations in nine different procurement activities. KEC has committed violations during the procurement procedures in five procurement activities, while PTK in four.
Municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo did not respect legal provisions of the Law on Public Procurement in total 12 different tenders. Prishtina Municipality has violated 4 tenders, while the Municipality of Gjilan, Lipjan, Partesh, Prizren, Vitia, Gjakova, Mitrovica and Peja in one tender.
Except this, FOL Movement has conducted direct monitoring of 37 procurement procedures in the ministries which they have a Memorandum of Understanding with. As a result, in 23 of these tenders were announced the winning economic operators, among them 11 were canceled with the recommendation of FOL Movement in order to prevent law violations, and in two tenders the winner was announced just in Lot I, while another tender is still in the procedure.
Gjakova, August 02 – Today, FOL Movement, within a series of debates in municipalities regarding the “Law on Protection of Informers’ held the next meeting in Gjakova on the topic” Anti-Corruption Legal Package: Law on Protection of Informers”. In this debate was discussed about the level of implementation of anti-corruption laws, respectively, the Law on Protection of Informers and on how public officials denounce irregularities or illegal acts of corruption cases within their respective institutions.
Participants at this meeting were: Deputy Mayor of Gjakova Mr. Agim Koci, the director of the Office of Procurement, Heads of Political Parties in Gjakova, Municipal Public Utility Representatives, Media and Civil Society. At the meeting were absent representatives from the Basic Court in Gjakova, prosecution and police.
The meeting was opened by Elbasan Racaj, he presented the findings of the research conducted by FOL Movement regarding the implementation of the Law on Protection of Informers. Among other things he said that 73.6% of officials are aware of the existence of the Law on Protection of Informers, 20.1% are not aware of its existence, and 6.3% do not know whether it exists or not.
Agim Koci – the deputy Mayor of Gjakova, initially congratulated FOL Movement for this initiative and for the debate. He said that “the way of thinking of the citizens regarding this law should be changed. He also said that institutions should have more contacts with citizens and show them that the law has no negative characteristics. According to Mr. Koci Gjakova municipality has a supervisor for reporting irregularities “. He further added that “NGOs should be responsible and not contribute to the reduction citizens’ trust in local institutions.”
Mr. Ali Tafarshiku said that “people know the law but in Gjakova they have no place to report such cases. There are officials who are willing to report to their supervisor about any case. They doubt about the correctness of their supervisors because they have little knowledge of the law. He further added that the legal office should hold meetings to inform the officials about the law and should appoint an officer for reporting corruption since there is not. ”
Luan Gola from LDK, said that “there is close connection between the prosecution and police, because there are cases of reporting corruption, but they hide them instead of investigating them.” He further said that “it makes us keep up with the awareness of citizens, officials need to read the laws and citizens shouldn’t be afraid reporting corruption.”
Teki Dobroshi from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement) said that “there are cases of reporting irregularities, but such a phenomenon should be fought all the way.” He further said that “such cases in Gjakova are going on deaf and soon are being forgotten.”
The discussion went on between representatives of Public Companies in Gjakova, civil society and media, who agreed that there is courage for reporting by officials, but they do not know that there is a person responsible for receiving the information on irregularities and do not have confidence in institutions as prosecution and court, because according to them they are politicized.
