Abot three months after the Basic Court of Gjakova began their investigation into the Mayor of Istog Haki Rugova, the Basic Prosecution of Kosovo issued an indictment.

Ali Selimaj, the head of the prosecution, confirmed the news for KALLXO.com.

“Yes, an indictment was issued, the offense is conflict of interest, and it [the case] was handed to the Basic Court of Peja,” Selimaj said.

In January, KALLXO.com reported that the Basic Prosecution of Gjakova started investigating Rugova following a lawsuit brought by the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency.

“On August 1, 2014, as Mayor of Istog, Haki Rugova is suspected to have participated in the signing of a contract according to the procurement activity ‘The Building of Wastewater Sewage in Cerrce-Lubozhde- the First Phase,” the lawsuit read.

The lawsuit also states that the tender was received by the company “‘MA-CON,’ which is owned by Gani Rugova, for 289,119.85 euros, enabling financial interest for him [Haki Rugova] and the legal person related to him.”

The Anti-Corruption Agency filed criminal charges against the mayor based on findings from BIRN and Internews Kosova’s TV programme ‘Drejtesia ne Kosove’ investigation, initiated by a report sent to the anti-corruption reporting platform KALLXO.  In June 2017, the TV program broadcast an investigation into the mayor’s dealings, showing that the municipality had given multiple tenders to ‘MA-CON,’ a business owned by Rugova’s brothers.