Pristina, 12 August 2021 – It has been held the 9th lecture on the cycle of lectures about the law provisions and the war against corruption. Muhamet Hajrullahu, from Telegraph lectured on corruption reporting and medias while explaining the difficulty of journalists and their reporting.
Pristina, 9 August 2021 – Saranda Ramaj, journalist at Koha Ditore, was the 8th lecturer on series of lecture about the law provisions and the war against corruption.
The theme of discussion was about corruption on health system.
Peja/Gjakova – 07 AUG 2021 – FOL has organized law students visits, on Peja and Gjakova Basic Prosecutions.
Based on the visit the students has the opportunity to see up close Peja and Gjakova Chief Prosecutions and Prosecutions work.
Pristina August 3, 2021 – FOL Movement on Tuesday has waited on visit the ambassador of the Dutch Kingdom, Mrs. Carin Lobbezo and the representative of the embassy, Mrs. znj. Venera Ramaj, senior official for the rule of law. During this meeting it was discussed about the transparency and the accountable of Kosovo Institutions, monitoring the government’s annual work plan, reforms on the public administrations, the rule of law in the Republic of Kosovo, Vetting process, corporation between institutions and civil society organizations in Kosovo.
Prishtina, 27 July 2021 – The ad-hoc committee of the Assembly of Kosovo for the selection of the member of the Media Complaints Board has requested a meeting yesterday from the civil society representatives, who are following the process of selecting a member of the Board, to sign the Confidentiality Agreement (see appendix 1)
We, the civil society organizations and the activists written below, strongly oppose the initiative of the deputies through which it is attempted to silence the civil societies and the activists. The restrictions set forth in this Confidentiality Agreement are illegal, severely infringe on the public’s right to information, and impede the work of civil society.
The Confidentiality Agreement stipulates, inter alia, that civil society representatives may not openly discuss or publish materials related to candidates as well as the progress of the process during the process (and contains significant restrictions that would apply once the process is completed).
Although we believe that we need to maintain the integration of the process, the Confidentiality Agreement is illegal. Law no. 04 / L-44 on the Independent Media Commission stipulates that “[a] members of the Appeals Board shall be appointed by the Assembly of Kosovo on the basis of open and transparent procedures” (Article 38 (1)). This provision prevents the ad hoc Commission’s harmful tendencies for member selection procedures to be closed through confidentiality agreements. The conditionality of the participation of civil society representatives in the selection process with the signing of this agreement violates the legal requirement that the procedure be open and transparent, preventing civil society representatives from expressing themselves freely regarding eventual findings.
Furthermore, the mission of civil society organizations and activists is to monitor the work of public authorities, to inform the public about monitoring findings, and hold politicians and people in power accountable for their actions. By forcing organizations and activists to sign such illegal agreements, the Assembly will disable the work of organizations and deprive the public of the right to be informed.
As such, this requirement prevents civil society organizations from performing one of the basic functions of their mission, which is to monitor the work of public institutions and to keep the public informed.
The Assembly of Kosovo is in the process of selecting a member of the Media Complaints Board of the Independent Media Commission (IMC). The selection will be made by the Ad-Hoc commission of the Assembly of Kosovo for the selection of the member of the Media Complaints Board composed of: Mërgim Lushtaku and Floretë Zejnullahu (Democratic Party of Kosovo) and the members Valon Ramadani, Doarsa Kica Xhelili, Njazi Isaku, Fitim Haziri and Besim Muzaqi (Lëvizja Vetëvendosje), Agim Veliu (Democratic League of Kosovo), Time Kadriaj (Alliance for the Future of Kosovo), Igor Simic (Serbian List) and Samra Iljazi (Group Multiethnic). The illegal agreement was proposed and sent for signature by email to several organizations after the first meeting of the ad-hoc commission held on July 26, 2021. The agreement was proposed by the chairman of ad-hoc commission Mërgim Lushtaku and was not opposed by any of the other members of the Ad-Hoc Committee present.
We request that the above-mentioned deputies of the ad hoc Committee of the Assembly of Kosovo for the selection of a member of the Media Complaints Board withdraw from this initiative and allow civil society organizations and activists to monitor freely.
Signatory organizations and activists:
Republika e Kosovës – Republika Kosovo-Republic of Kosovo
Kuvendi – Skupština – Assembly
Ad-Hoc commission for the selection of members of the Media Complaints Board
Confidentiality Agreement
This Confidentiality Agreement is an audible document that sets out the commitment of each individual to behave with integrity in their involvement in the appointment process.
Confidentiality Agreement
As an independent observer, a representative of civil society, I vow to:
Maintain the confidentiality of the candidate by:
Maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the candidate by:
Raised with the Chair of the Committee, any concerns about the integrity in the conduct and performance of others during the conduct of the appointment process.
Emphasize to the Chair of the Commission, any other issues or concerns which may jeopardize the integrity of the appointment process.
Name:…………………Process: Board Members for Media Complaint
Signature:………….. Date:26.07.2021
Prishtina, 23 July 2021 – Lëvizja FOL, Debate Center, and Internews Kosovo in the frame of “Justice Sector in Kosovo – responsible, reliable and transparent” continued their visits in the Basic Prosecutions of Kosovo, in which, in addition to the visit of the institution, a meeting will be held with the Chief Prosecutors of these prosecutions.
The purpose of these meetings is to familiarize students with the function, efficiency, and competencies of these institutions.
In the frame of these visits Lëvizja FOL has held meetings with two Basic Prosecution Offices in the country, that of Gjilan 22 July 2021 and Ferizaj 23 July 2021.
While these visits the students had the opportunity to talk with the Chief Prosecutor Mr. Arben Kadriu from the Basic Prosecution of Gjilan and Mr. Shukri Jashari the Basic Prosecution of Ferizaj.
FOL will hold such meetings in the Prosecutions of Prizren, Peja, Gjakova, and Mitrovica.
To participate in the next visits please fill in the link below;
Prishtina, 09 July 2021 – FOL has held the information session for Telegrafi.com journalists for the Open and Transparent Procurement Portal, as a platform for open procurement contracts. In this session, the journalists were informed about the data provided by the portal regarding public contracts, as well as about the new modules that are already part of this portal, mapping, and networking. Also, from Democracy Plus was introduced the Red Flag in procurement website, which is included in the Open and Transparent Procurement Portal. Red flags aim to prevent mismanagement and corruption in public procurement.
Prishtina, 08 July 2021 – Lëvizja FOL held the 5th lecture in the series of lectures on legal provisions and the fight against corruption, where present was Skender S. Perteshi from the Kosovo Center for Security Studies as guests. Throughout this lecture Mr. Perteshi lectured on the dangers of security in the country from corruption, shortcomings in the justice system in terms of security, and Kosovo’s path towards membership in regional and international security organizations.
Prishtina, 4th July 2021 – Lëvizja FOL, Debate Center, and Internews Kosovo, in the frame of “Justice Sector in Kosovo – responsible, reliable and transparent” have held “Creative Writing and Public Political Analysis” training. During the training, the participants were given the opportunity to understand more easily the technical and institutional processes related to the process of proposing and implementing public policies. Ardi Shatri, except for practical group work; lecture about; (1) analysis about the current situation, (2) problem identification, (3) SWOT and CBA analysis, (4) economic policy analysis techniques, (5) counter-factual situation, and (6) assessment.
The participants will be engaged in creating various public policy analyzes, which we will share with you very soon.
This training was conducted by Lëvizja FOL, Debate Center and Internews Kosovo in the frame of “Justice Sector in Kosovo – responsible, reliable and transparent”.
Prishtina, 29 June 2021 – Lëvizja FOL held the 4th of a series of lectures on legal provisions and investigative procedures in the field of corruption, where Mr. Gzim Shala lectured on “Management of conflict of interest as the fight against corruption.”
Pristina, 29 June 2021 – Managing conflict of interest as a fight against corruption
FOL Movement held the 4th of a series of lectures on legal provisions and investigative procedures in the field of corruption, where Mr. Gzim Shala lectured on “Management of conflict of interest as the fight against corruption.”
Prishtina, 17 June 2021 – The FOL movement within the series of lectures on legal provisions and investigative procedures in the field of corruption, has held the third lecture where the speaker was Mr. Florent Spahija, legal advisor at the Democratic Institute of Kosovo (KDI).
The topic of discussion was signaling, namely the protection of whistleblowers in the fight against corruption.
Meanwhile, for the other two candidates, Krenare Sogojeva Dermaku and Edon Miftari we are waiting to receive the full file from the Assembly of Kosovo.
Prishtina, 17 JUNE 2021 – In the parliamentary session held on June 17, 2021, Krenare Sogojeva Dërmaku was elected Commissioner for Information and Privacy. Mrs. Sogojeva Dërmaku was twice recommended by experts hired by the British embassy for recruitment to senior positions but did not get enough votes.
We express our deep disappointment with the boycott of this process by the opposition. Deputies have a constitutional obligation to stay in the hall and vote. They have failed to meet their obligations.
We invite Mrs.Sogojeva Dermaku to start the very much needed reform of the Agency for Information and Privacy, to select the staff of the agency -especially inspectors- on the basis of merit, to perform the work responsibly and professionally in handling cases related to access to public documents and protect the personal data of the citizens of Kosovo. We invite Mrs. Sogojeva Dermaku to make staff recruitment transparent by allowing civil society to closely monitor these processes. We expect agency decisions to be professionally written, based on European standards, well reasoned and easily accessible on the website.
Regarding the suspicions raised about the documents submitted by Mr. Bujari, the acting head of the parliamentary group, Mrs. Mimoza Kusari Lila, called for the involvement of the prosecution. In order to remove the doubts raised during this process, we suggest the interviewing panel to follow the advice of Ms. Kusari Lila by addressing the prosecution.
We will continue to closely monitor the work of the Information and Privacy Agency.
FOL
Flutura Kusari
GLPS
KDI
KCSF
Çohu
D4D
GAP
Pristina, 16 JUNE 2021 – We the organizations and activists written below, after gathering additional evidence about the candidate Enver Bujari, we ask Levizja Vetëvendosje and the ruling parties not to proceed with this process.
After the suspicions that Mr. Bujar has changed the data on work experience and education, through the right of access to public documents, we have provided the complete file of his application.
According to the documents provided, it results that Mr. Bujar did not provide the document that proves the work experience, as required by competition and law, but only the report of the Pension Trust. This document is important because for this position the candidates are required to have: at least, eight (8 years of professional work experience, of which, at least, five (5) years of experience in leadership positions, and only with the report of the Pension Trust such a thing can not be proven.
In the absence of this evidence, the deputies of the interview panel – composed of Lëvizja Vetëvendosje and other ruling parties – should not have invited Mr. Bujar at all for an interview. The responsibility for checking the file lies with the deputies of the interview panel. For this failure, we hold responsible the following MPs: Fatmir Humolli, Shqipe Mehmeti Selimi, Mefail Bajqinovci, Enver Dugolli and Arbër Rexhaj from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, Erxhan Galushi and the Progressive Movement of Roma of Kosovo and Slavko Simić from the Serbian List.
Knowing that Mr.Bujari did not submit the full application, his application should not be consired at all.
The Law on Personal Data Protection requires that three candidates be nominated for the plenary session. The invalidity of Mr. Bujar’s application leaves only two candidates in the race, contrary to the law in question.
Recall that this process was accompanied by the most irregularities, starting from the composition of the panel contrary to parliamentary practice, non-transparency in the evaluation of candidates and high evaluation of candidates who did not perform well in the interview.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner will be the most important person in Kosovo in protecting personal data and guaranteeing access to public documents. He must be professional, without political coloration and with high integrity. We hope that Levizja Vetëvendosje will reflect and will not endanger such an important institution.
Meanwhile, for the other two candidates, Krenare Sogojeva Dermaku and Edon Miftari we are waiting to receive the full file from the Assembly of Kosovo.
FOL
Flutura Kusari
GLPS
KDI
KCSF
Pristina, 09 June 2021 – The FOL movement has started with the series of “FOL hapur” discussions with the leaders of the opposition parties in the country.
Today to the “FOL hapur” Forum was invited Enver Hoxhaj, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo.
During this forum the topics were discussed:
– PDK Opposition to the Kurti Government 2 (with special emphasis on Foreign Policy, the Covid-19 Pandemic Situation and the Rule of Law)
– PDK position on the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue
– Local Elections 2021 and PDK reform at the local level
Pristina, 10 June 2021 – Flutura Kusari, a legal advisor at the European Center for Freedom of the Press and Media, was the second lecturer in a series of lectures on legal provisions and investigative procedures in the field of corruption.
This lecture focused on strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP LaWsuits), lawsuits which aim to intimidate and hinder the participation in public discussions of journalists, activists, organizations, academics, etc.
Pristina, 7 JUNE 2021. We the organizations and activists that are written below express our deepest concerns about the irregularities and followed procedures in the selection of the 4th Information and Privacy Commissioner.
The interview panel of the Committee of Security and Defense of the Republic of Kosovo, composed with MP Fatmir Humolli, Shqipe Mehmeti Selimi, Mefail Bajqinovci, Enver Dugolli and Arber Rexhaj from “Lëvizja Vetëvendosje”, Erxhan Galushi from the Progressive Movement of Roma of Kosovo and Slavko Simić from the Serbian List who interviewed the candidates on 7th of June 2021.
For this positions have run Edon Myftari, Enver Bujari, Krenar Këpuska, Krenare Sogojeva Dermaku, Sadik Kryeziu and Sogojeva Dermaku. Sadik Kryeziu left the meeting a couple of minutes before the interview started.
The present MPs rated the candidate Enver Bujari with the most points, overall 69 points, the candidate Krenare Sogojeva Dermaku with 63 points and the candidate Edon Myftari with 61.5 points. Those three names will be sent to the Assembly for voting, after they approve from the Committee of Security and Defense of the Republic of Kosovo. To be a Commisioner, 61 votes are needed overall.
From the direct monitoring of the interviews, we believe that the most rated candidate did not perform as good as the other two candidates. Mr. Bujari has also run in the past processes, but british experts that helped the recruitment process in 2019/2020 did not rate him with enough points and did not recommend him for the Information and Privacy Commisioner position.
As we did before with the other competitions, we analyzed the biography of every candidate and we saw that the biography that Mr.Bujari submitted in this process is not the same as the biography he submitted in other processes before.
Based on the biography he submitted in the year 2019 in the Assembly of Kosovo, Mr.Bujari declared that he was the principal of the narcotics investigation unit in the period 2006-2019, in the biography submitted in the year 2020 he declared that he worked on that position in the period of 2009-2020 while in the biography that he submitted in the year he declared that he worked on that position in the period of 2009-2019. Also, in the other submitted biographies there is discrepancy on study dates. Based on the first and second biography he graduated from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration at “Fama” College for two years (2010-2012), whereas based on the third biography he graduated for three years in a whole different period of time(2007-2010). Also, he changed three times the dates on which he did his studies on the field of engineering, including the name of the educational institution. We express our concern that the recruitment panel has not verified this information.
Further, during the interview the panel did not take into account the methodology created by the British experts. Questions were formed without the presence of civil society monitors, unlike the other processes when we were invited to be a part of the process.Also other times the deputies rated in a transparent manner, announcing the evaluation points after each interview and providing justification for the evaluation made. This time the deputies evaluated the candidates anonymously without giving a reason for the points given. In the end, only the total evaluation points for each candidate were announced.
We also reiterate our concern about the composition of the interview panel. At the proposal of the Vetëvendosje Movement, the panel is composed of all members of the Commission and not just one representative of political parties, as is the parliamentary practice. This approach formed a negative precession and has directly affected the loss of legitimacy of the entire Commissioner’s selection process. The ruling parties have failed to reach a consensus to keep the opposition parties involved. At the same time, we consider that the opposition has an obligation to represent the interests of its own voters by participating in the Assembly and giving its contribution.
Based on what was said above, we consider that this process has been non-transparent in the development of its activities and unprofessional in interviewing, for which, it should not continue. We call on the members of the Assembly to repeat the competition, ensuring that transparency and professionalism are the values of the new process.
FOL
Flutura Kusari
GLPS
KDI
KCSF
Çohu
D4D
GAP
Pristine, 04 June 2021 – FOL movement and the most credible online media in Kosovo, Telegrafi.com today signed the agreement for the provision of the Open and Transparent Procurement portal.
During the contract signing ceremony, it was said that this portal will provide easy access to find information related to the spending of public money.
The executive director of the FOL Movement, Mexhide Demolli said that this platform will provide transparency to the readers for each signed contract.
FOL movement since 2010, part of the program has also had the part of public procurement, while in 2018 we launched the platform for ‘open and transparent procurement’. This platform contains data and contracts from state institutions from 2018 onwards.
The reason why we signed this contract with Telegraf today has to do with the longevity of this portal. We think that such a collaboration will keep this portal alive. We as FOL will continue to update the data, while Telegrafi will use its part to do more research regarding public procurement, referring to the contracts that the portal offers “, said Demolli.
Meanwhile, the editor-in-chief of the Telegraf, Muhamet Hajrullahu said that they are committed to advancing the reports related to the spending of public money. “We as Telegraf are very committed to advancing the reports related to the spending of public money, the issue of tenders in Kosovo and above all the tax expenditures of citizens. We think that with this agreement signed with the FOL Movement, to advance the reporting in the Telegraf and to have information related to public procurement.
Also to receive information related to transparency and above all not to forget that Telegrafi as a serious media has a large audience in Kosovo and we think to advance this reporting by cooperating with organizations like this with FOL ” said Hajrullahu.
The FOL movement in 2018 had launched the portal “Open and Transparent Procurement”. The purpose of this portal is to provide information to institutions, journalists and civil society representatives in order to see how the state budget is spent. At the same time, research in the field of public procurement makes public institutions continuously improve this field.
Telegrafi.com is an independent news portal in the Albanian language and was established in 2006, with its main base in Pristina and its second headquarters in Macedonia. For more than a decade, Telegrafi has managed to maintain impartiality and life as a source of news with the highest credibility in all Albanian-speaking territories.
Pristine, 03 June 2021 – FOL Movement, Debate Center and Internews Kosova have started the series of lectures on legal provisions and investigation procedures in the field of corruption. Labinot Leposhtica from Kallxo.com was the first lecturer in this series.
Lecture by Mr. Leposhtica focused on punitive policies in corruption cases by Kosovo courts. A special focus has been the regulation of penal practice according to the Criminal Code, the Code of Procedure and the Penal Policy Guide.
This serie will prooced in two forms in a virtual form and physical, over the next 10 weeks.
This project is supported from the US Department through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).