From observing recent developments on the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, KPC, one might well conclude that Kosovo’s prosecutors are trained to close their eyes to crime, tolerate political interference, and cave in and apologize to those they accused of wrongdoing only a day earlier.
For the past four weeks members of the KPC, some driven by principle, others by personal vendettas, have revealed a great deal about the system as well as about each other. The council, which oversees Kosovo’s prosecutorial system, has shown that all the claims that have been made for years – that the Chief Prosecutor’s office is reformed and incorruptible – were fairy tales. Members of the council have shown that, for them, the law comes second, and that a spoken promise has more weight than the constitution, the law or any regulation.
On March 17, leaders of the country’s justice system agreed a pact. They swore an oath to each other – besa, as the Code of Leke Dukagjini would call it – that for the next two weeks they would work in peace and harmony.
This pact was agreed in a meeting facilitated by Hajredin Kuci, the Minister of Justice. For a politician to reconcile agents of justice, who are supposedly independent of the executive branch, only makes matters worse. After the meeting with Kuci, the acting Chief State Prosecutor, Syle Hoxha who only days ago had accused his colleagues of wrongdoing, held a press conference to make the reconciliation public.
Two months ago, while interviewing candidates for Chief State Prosecutor, I realized an important fact: not all of them had entered the race to win. Several clearly did not believe they had what it takes to perform the duties of Chief Prosecutor. In the end, five of the six candidates withdrew. This begs the question about whether the process was designed to fail from the start.
One might argue either way. Some believe the candidates withdrew because they did not trust the system. Others say the withdrawal was coordinated to intentionally discredit the process. Who and what was exactly coordinated should be the questions of an in-depth investigation conducted by the Disciplinary Council and the Chief Prosecutor. The withdrawals need to be investigated, though acting Chief Prosecutor Hoxha has not requested this yet.
On March 15, Syla exploded with accusations towards his colleagues, who had initiated his discharge from the office he had held for a few months now. In a 14-page speech, Hoxha spoke about many abuses he claimed were occurring within the prosecutorial system.
If what Hoxha claims is true, them the six prosecutors he accused of wrongdoing should have gone home suspended or gone straight to prison. Neither happened. The prosecutors were not suspended, let alone sent to prison. Instead, Hoxha, who holds the highest legal power to prosecute, backpedalled on his statement and apologized. All of the sudden, the acting Chief Prosecutor appeared remorseful for divulging alleged abuses of his colleagues.
In a system where law reigns supreme, the Chief Prosecutor would not feel bad about making accusations but would be at the forefront of investigating suspected wrongdoings. These accusations would end with someone being held accountable, either for wrongdoing, or for making a false accusation. In Kosovo’s juridical and constitutional system, however, issues are solved by resorting to the Code of Leke Dukagjini. It is better to swear an oath, besa, to each other, and to shut your mouth than to investigate and send culpable individuals to prison. This is exactly what happened after the meeting with Kuçi. Hoxha apologized for his earlier declarations and sat at the same table with those he had just called criminals, apparently with no qualms.
One might recall that a few months ago, the acting Chief Prosecutor invited Ramadan Muja, the convicted Mayor of Prizren, to a conference. With a convicted mayor and others publicly accused of wrongdoing sitting next to the Chief Prosecutor, one can only surmise that prosecutors in Kosovo are not worried about being linked to wrongdoers. Perhaps they are again using the institution of besa, under whose protection, according to the code, one can escape the sanctions foreseen by the very same code.
With his 14-page speech, the acting Chief Prosecutor proved that he is a denouncer of abuses. However, is it the job of the Chief Prosecutor to denounce abuse, or fight it? In normal circumstances, it would not occur to the Chief Prosecutor to do the former; his duty is to investigate criminals and send them to jail if need be, not hold press conferences. Hoxha also accused the Special Prosecution Office of not doing its job. It is true that everyone is unsatisfied with this prosecution office. However, Hoxha forgot to mention that his own prosecutors in Prizren were not prepared to investigate Mayor Muja, whose case was then investigated by the Special Prosecution Office. He also forgot to mention that his colleagues have not been brave enough to join this prosecution office, which, ever since it was established in 2006, has been understaffed.
The acting Chief Prosecutor publicly revealed that the daughter of the Chief Prosecutor in Gjilan, Jetish Maloku, works in the office of the Disciplinary Council, raising the question of whether this constituted a conflict of interest. Although Hoxha said he was looking into employment practices, his lengthy speech failed to mention the fact that civil society members have accused council member Florent Mucaj, the representative of civil society, of obtaining his position through Hoxha’s own influence. The acting Chief Prosecutor did not address claims that he influenced the members of the commission that selected Mucaj. He failed to address reports about criminal cliques within the KPC, either.
Perhaps these suspicions are also being kept tightly under wraps because of besa, an oath to secrecy that somewhere, someone has already made. Indeed, the entire debate about wrongdoing and suspicious cliques only demonstrates how prosecutors bow to political pressure.
In the meeting with the Justice Minister Kuci, the prosecutors promised to maintain peace and not harass one another at least for a few weeks. Whether this peace will bury all the accusations made in the past few weeks remains to be seen. However, keeping silent about all that has been said would be the worst thing that could happen to the prosecution service.
Kreshnik Gashi is the editor and host of “Justice in Kosovo,” a weekly TV program produced by BIRN Kosovo.