In an exclusive interview with BIRN’s television programme Jeta ne Kosove, Kosovo Chief Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi commented on political assassination cases, the fight against corruption, and recent allegations that he had falsified his jurisprudence exam.

Kosovo Chief Prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi denied allegations that he falsified his jurisprudence exam in 1990, which were first publically made by former President of the Constitutional Court and University of Prishtina Rector Enver Hasani, after he was sentenced for ‘white collar crimes’ in October.  

By November 14, pre-trial investigations into the case were closed due to lack of evidence by Kujtim Munishi of the Basic Prosecution in Prishtina, citing technical and administrative errors. The Basic Prosecution have been accused of unlawfully restricting public access to the documents after the investigations were closed.

Lumezi told Jeta ne Kosove that Hasani and his associates make these accusation to “discredit and blackmail” him, and that media reports regarding the accusations have been “fake news.”

“You saw who were the people who dealt with my file — they were all mainly people who had been indicted from the State Prosecution, starting with Enver Hasani,” said Lumezi.

“Now there is a definitive decision from a prosecutor who investigated this case, and who was supervised by a prosecutor from the Office of Kosovo’s Special Prosecutor, who is an international. And the results of those investigations are now known — no facts were found that would indicate that my bar exam file was manipulated.”

Lumezi said that since his mandate began in April 2015, he was able to increase efficiency in the State Prosecution, with around 24,000 more cases solved a year.

Lumezi also talked about the delays in the investigation of post-war assassination cases in Kosovo. Moderator Jeta Xharra asked him about the investigation regarding the assassination of Xhemajl Mustafa, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, official who was murdered in 2000. Until now, no one has yet faced justice regarding this case.

“I personally reviewed that case while I was Head Prosecutor of the Circuit Prosecution,” said Lumezi, “but meanwhile the Head Prosecutor of the Special Prosecution in Kosovo, who at the time was an international, asked for that case to be transferred to EULEX prosecutors. The case is still with the EULEX prosecutors.”

Lumezi then said that the responsibility for these cases should be requested from people who directly dealt with and had an obligation to investigate them.

“I have asked from the local and international prosecutors to prioritize assassination cases. I asked for the same treatment also for the cases of post-war journalist assassinations,” said Lumezi.

Lumezi stressed that the Kosovo Prosecutors do not have the authority to work on the cases that are currently with international prosecutors, and added that these cases are slowly being transferred back to to Kosovo prosecutors.

Regarding the fight against corruption — which is one of the main requirements from the EU for visa liberalization — Lumezi said that the prosecution dealt with a many cases of high corruption, as well as with local cases of corruption.

“From 38 criminal cases, so far we issued indictments for 26 of them,” said Lumezi. “Many of these cases involve suspects who are high-ranking officials of the Republic of Kosovo.”