Prishtina, December 6, – Today, FOL Movement presented a brief analysis on the effect of non-functioning of the PRB in Public Procurement during the period August-November 2013.
Kenan Tora from FOL Movement explained that ” FOL Movement for three years regularly every three- months have published the report” Procurement Monitor “. In this report has been analyzed the implementation of Public Procurement Law by Contracting Authorities respectively Public Institutions of the Republic of Kosovo through analyzing the decisions taken by the Procurement Review Body, an institution which according to the Law on Public Procurement has the powers and responsibilities for reviewing complaints regarding public procurement procedures . But, since August 01, 2013, a substantial problem that has preoccupied and damaged the Public Procurement sector as a whole was the non-functioning of the PRB, it is because 4 out of 5 members of the PRB board were ended the mandate. FOL Movement through a reaction in the media on September 12, 2013 has attracted attention and expressed its concern about the situation. In this short analysis FOL Movement, analyzes the effects of the situation which is created when the PRB became non- functional, a situation which still is the same.”

According to official data that FOL Movement was provided for the purpose of drafting this analysis by the Secretariat of the PRB, two board members were ended the mandate on 01 August 2012, whereas the Chairman of the PRB and another board member were ended the mandate on 01 August 2013, and ever since the PRB functioned with only one member of the board, thus not being able to execute all the powers and accomplish all responsibilities provided by law. Except this, unfortunately, the only mandated member of the board of PRB, Mr. Osman Kryeziu, passed away on 21 November 2013 thus the PRB currently is in a situation with no mandated board members.

According to the Law on Public Procurement, the PRB board consists of five members, who are nominated by the Government and appointed by the Assembly for a term of 5 years. Assembly of Kosovo establishes a selecting body, 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’s government has neglected the legal terms and has proposed the new names for the board members of the PRB in delays. These proposals were sent for appointment to the Assembly. But first there were summer vacations, then local elections campaign and differences between political parties about certain issues have postponed holding regular sessions of the Assembly and as a consequence the appointment of new board members of the PRB is still pending.
FOL Movement in order to expose the current situation in numbers, requested from the secretariat of the PRB to provide data concerning the number of the cases which have remained blocked as a result of non-function of the PRB, the monetary value of these cases and to which Contracting Authorities respectively institutions these cases belong to.

Based on official data that FOL Movement provided from the Secretariat of the PRB, since 01 August 2013 when the term of PRB board expired until November 19, 2013, there are 160 complaints that are not reviewed which were filed by different Economic Operators. The monetary value of the tenders which are supposed to be reviewed by the PRB, is about � 52,292,393.59, and these tenders are announced by 61 various Contracting Authorities. Consequently, these tenders as a result of non-function of the PRB remain blocked and cannot be processed.

In this period, when the PRB has been non-functional, the development of procurement procedures and signing of contracts by some institutions has continued, despite that economic operators cannot apply their legal right to appeal about certain issues. This situation may have consequences, like loss of the public money and harm fair competition between economic operators. In addition, the effects of this situation will be present even after the appointment of the new PRB board due to the large number of cases which are piled up, and among them, there are cases that are legally old to be reviewed.

Considering that all credible international and local organizations reports show a high level of corruption in Kosovo and due to the fact that most of the public money is spent through public procurement procedures, FOL Movement considers that current situation, when the PRB is non-functional can affect the growth of opportunities for corruption and misconduct in public procurement.

FOL Movement based on the current situation and the effects this situation can produce even after the appointment of the new board, likewise in the statement issued on 12 September 2013, requires that procedures for appointing the new PRB board members are done as soon as possible by the Assembly of Kosovo and the PRB becomes functional in order to perform as assigned by law.

Monitoring report on the hearing sessions in Gjakova and Podujeva

 
Courts Monitor

October 24, 2013 – Visar Arifaj from Partia e Fortë (strong Party) was the next guest in “Prishtina Forum 2013” a debate with political parties candidates in Prishtina.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.

October 24, 2013 – The next guest in “Prishtina Forum 2013” a debate with political parties candidates in Prishtina , was Kaqusha Jashari from PSD.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.

October 22, 2013 –The next guest in ‘Prishtina Forum 2013’ a debate with political parties candidates in Prishtina , was Valon Murati from LB.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.

October 18, 2013- The next guest in ‘Prishtina Forum 2013’ a debate with political parties candidates in Prishtina , was Agim Çeku from PDK.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.

October 16, 2013 – The next guest in ‘Prishtina Forum 2013’ a debate with political parties candidates in Prishtina , was Korab sejdiu from AKR.
This series of debates is being supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, office in Prishtina.

Prishtina, October 14, 2013 – Today, FOL Movement held the Regional Conference on “Anti-Corruption Legal Package – The Law on Protection of Informers”. This regional conference was a meeting point between various institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, civil society of Kosovo and Region as well. The conference aimed to pave the way in preventing and fighting the high-level of corruption in Kosovo and to promote further the “law on Protection of Informers “approved by Assembly in 2011.

The participants in this meeting were representatives from central and local institutions of Republic of Kosovo, representatives of the judiciary and prosecution, representatives of civil society from region and Kosovo and media.

Hajredin Kuçi – Minister of Justice , stated “Kosovo, currently has the best laws in the region regarding prevention and fighting corruption, it is thanks to the work of local relevant experts and assistance that was given to them by the international community, in spite of this, the largest mission of the European Union rule of Law is present in Kosovo ” . When focusing on the Law on Protection of Informers, Kuçi said that “there are legal foundations to fight corruption. These legal foundations include also two laws approved by institutions such as the Law on Protection of Informers and Law on Witnesses Protection, which protect individuals and employees if they report corruption cases or other criminal offenses”. He further added that “It should be clearly defined the main authority in preventing and fighting corruption, laws which fight corruption should be harmonized and there should be a greater cooperation among regional countries against these phenomena.”

Slagjana Tasheva from Transparency International in Macedonia said that “Corruption appears in various forms and fighting it is done through various mechanisms, and of them is licking information by employees, where among the most important elements is the instance which would be responsible for the acceptance, protection and tracking information”. Further, she added that “Macedonia, unlike Kosovo, has no specific law that protects individuals who report corruption affairs and that the relevant legislation in this area is not clear.”

Vuk Mara� from MANS – Montenegro said that “Llegal gaps inside the law, often aim to cover the lack of political will to implement them.” He further added that “Montenegro faces major problems in the field of preventing and fighting corruption, even until recently there was not a law that would protect whistleblowers of this phenomenon.” In the end he stated that “Although recently, the Government of Montenegro approved the Law on Protection of corruption reporters, this law is still not applicable and therefore it is inefficient.”

Besim Kelmendi from State Special Prosecution said “Law on Protection of Informers should be promoted further, and that citizens should be encouraged to report corrupt and legally protect them.”

Enver Peci, Chairman of the Kosovo Judicial Council said “Kosovo as a new country is experiencing problems with law enforcement, but such a thing should not discourage us and application of these laws is not impossible.” He further added, “Establishment of protective mechanisms which come from laws seem to be difficult, and therefore it’s needed the adjustment and function of the laws once they are approved approval.”

Drita hajdari – Anti-Corruption Prosecutor stressed that “We should make a comparison and a distinction between the Law on Protection of informers and Witnesses Protection Law, by clarifying legal concepts.”

At the end of the Regional Conference, there were some recommendations, among them as follows:
– Changing the name of the law;
– Clear definition of reporting corruption system;
– Clarifying protection means of individuals reporting corruption;
– Clarifying sanctions against individuals responsible in case of non-tracking information and discovering the identity of individuals reporting corruption;
– Creation of a judicial police handling corruptive cases, and
– Intensifying regional cooperation in fighting organized crime and corruption.

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

 
Corruption Monitor