In an interview for the Justice in Kosovo, Gabriele Meucci, head of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, EULEX, criticized Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Hajredin Kuçi. Meucci declared that one of the statements Kuci made regarding a EULEX court decision rendered him “uncomfortable.”

In a television interview, the Minister of Justice declared that the sentencing of Sami Lushtaku, Lushtaku, a former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander and mayor of Skenderaj, was “absurd.”  EULEX prosecuted this high-profile case and in May 2015, Lushtaku was sentenced to 12 years on war crimes charges. The case is currently before the Court of Appeals.

Kuci’s statements given on March 16 resulted in the cancellation of a meeting with the EULEX Law Enforcement Board. EULEX leadership issued a press release saying that “such statements can be perceived as intimidation and political interference.”

In the interview with BIRN, Meucci elaborated on this.

“There were not the conditions to have a meeting where we could honestly assess the situation. And I want to be honest, when you want to be honest with a partner you have to recognize when mistakes are made, you also have to tell when you believe something is going wrong,” Meucci said.

Meucci said that the statements Kuci  made about  Lushtaku, who once was arrested by EULEX police after leaving the hospital while serving his sentence, are not “compatible with the system we want to consolidate in Kosovo.”

According to him, the atmosphere becomes sensitive when high profile figures are being tried, especially in Kosovo.

“The last thing you want, if you want to guarantee a system of justice, is for the  judges and prosecutors not to feel intimidated, to not feel pressured by the political side, members of the government, parliament – from any political body,” he said, adding that the statement of a person in a political position qualifies as political interference. 

“Political interference means also that somebody who has a political institution, whatever he says, can influence the environment of justice,” said Meucci. “ You cannot distinguish the individual person and the public function. If you have a political function, you have it all the time.”

Meucci, who has spoken to Kuci on the phone about the latter’s statements, says that he expects the Minister to explain himself publicly.

“I received this telephone call and the same time I told him the declarations he made are recorded in a television program. It should probably be explained to Kosovo, not to me,” said Meucci. “I expect now that other messages will come where the independence of the judgement of prosecutors and judges [will be] guaranteed. And I’m glad that Minister Kuci in a declaration said he’s willing to do so.”

During the interview Meucci also commented on the demonization of one of the key EULEX protected witnesses, Nazim Bllaca, in Kosovar tabloid press.

Expressing his worry, Meucci said that this comes as no surprise, adding that EULEX judges are well aware of these occurrences and do not feel intimidated.

“If these people who are trying to use intimidation campaigns against this protected witness think that they are doing something new or revolutionary, they’re totally wrong because these happen everywhere where there is organized crime,” declared Meucci.

“I come from a place in which mafia exists, and judges know these things happen, this is nothing new,” he added.

The head of the EULEX is most worried about what he calls “the intermediation of media.”

“These days we have portals with anonymous sources, where you don’t understand who is publishing this portals, you don’t find the name of the journalist,” Meucci noted, adding that this is “a classical form” of creating dirt.  He then compared this form of distribution of propaganda with communist forms of defamation in Yugoslavia and Albania.

“You should have some experience here, because it was a typical system used in the Yugoslav UDBA and the Sigurimi [State Security] in Albania, which are not good examples that we want to follow for the future, I believe,” added Meucci.

He also claims that the witnesses protected by EULEX “are well protected,” while local institutions have a witness protection program which has never been used.