Prishtinë, 06 December 2012
Kosovar authorities had initial knowledge that the material evidence in the evidence Room were in danger. A report of 2007, shows the picture of a robber in the room where evidence of serious crimes were stored. Up till this day, no one has held accountability, and EULEX has suspended the investigation as regards this case.
The police buildings used to store the most sensitive evidence on serious crimes were being visited by students of police teachers of private universities like in bars. This was the alarm bell rung by the Kosovo Police Inspectorate as early as 2007, more than two years before the famous robbery of the evidence room took place in the central command of the Kosovo Police.
The KPI report says that the entry in this room is strictly forbidden for unauthorized persons, but students of Colleges “Fama” and “AAB” were granted entry in the forensics laboratory by some police officers teaching at these colleges, contrary to the protocol. The Law on Police prohibits police officers having other working places, but they do this unhindered.
The Police Inspectorate recommends that the Police Commissary should take into account formal disciplinary procedures regarding those police officers who were knowledgably involved in this security breach
According to inspectors, this is a security breach. “The Police Inspectorate recommends that the Police Commissary should take into account formal disciplinary procedures regarding those police officers who were knowledgably involved in this security breach”, says the KPI report of 2007.
Despite the alarm, there is no knowlegde of any action having taken place, since noone in the Kosovo Police but also in the Internal Affairs Ministry accepted to talk to Preportr.
The Kosovo Police itself is involved in cases of its officers being involved in crimes of all types. Although Kosovo Police officers have refused to speak about this case, including here the Information Office, Preportr has found that Kosovar police officers are immersed in crime, beginning with traffic bribes to organized crime, not exluding murders. Many crime cases where police officers themselves were involved, even within police facitilites were never solved..
As regards the level of criminality of Kosovo Police, KPI reports speak a lot, but also its former leaders, Kosovo deputies but also international and local media.
The stolen evidence room, the godfathers’ room
The theft of material evidence in the Police headquarters happened during a period of transferring of competences from UNMIK to Kosovo Police. The Kosovo Police Service (KPS), now Kosovo Police, was ranked in surveys among the most reliable institutions in Kosovo. But the image of the Police was stolen in April 2009 together with evidence of serious crimes when the robbery of the evidence room took place in the Police headquarters.
Despite the warnings of the inspectors in 2007 that the security of the Police buildings used to store evidence of criminal cases was endangered, this agency was caught with shut cameras.
The only thing that remains clear is that the persons responsible for the evidence room were the Kosovo police, but the responsibility for managing competences is intentionally blurred. The responsibility on the Police, including the evidence room, was held by UNMIK till May 2009, while the operational competences were held by locals. Even EULEX was in Kosovo during that time. However, it is clear that the failure in this case happened in the operational level, and the persons responsible for the security tasks of this room were known.
Since May 2009, UNMIK Police has almost entirely handed over the operational tasks to EULEX. Therefore, these questions should be addressed to EULEX and Kosovo
Police Olivier Salgado, UNMIK official
Preportr has contacted three agencies, KP, EULEX and UNMIK. While UNMIK admits that it was responsible until May 2009, only a month after the scandal in the evidence room, it says it was tranferring competences during this time to EULEX
“Since May 2009, UNMIK Police has almost entirely handed over the operational tasks to EULEX. Therefore, these questions should be addressed to EULEX and Kosovo Police, whose inspectorate was dealing with the case, an UNMIK official told Preportr.
EULEX categorically denied that they had any blame in this case, while UNMIK did not concede to giver further clarifications regarding the fact that the robbery took place when it practically managed the evidence room.
Kosovo Police did not want to speak. But, Behar Selimi, ex-deputy director of Kosovo Police, later on the General Director of KP said that the room was under the responsibility of internationals, namely, UNMIK, thus exonerating the local police structures.
“EULEX was not responsible, but UNMIK had not as yet transferred the full competence in the field of fighting organized crime, therefore, the room was not controlled by us. Very few people had access in there”, said Behar Selimi for Preportr.
EULEX was not responsible, but UNMIK had not as yet transferred the full competence in the field of fighting organized crime, therefore, the room was not controlled by us. Very few people had access in there”, said Behar Selimi for Preportr
Behar Selimi, PDK deputy
Selimi, now deputy of Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) of Prime minister Hashim Thaci, says that UNMIK was responsible administratively, but also practically. “Nevertheless, competences such as security of suerveillance cameras, entries and exits were under the responsibility of the Kosovo Police”. Selimi says that “none of the high officers of KP had access to the room and the crime component was not yet transferred to loals”.
Selimi claims to at during the time he was deputy director of the Kosovo Police he had suggested to KP director Sheremet Ahmeti to inform the public opinion that the evidence room was under the supervision of the internationals. Ahmeti had not agreed to that.
Ahmeti, now heading the Training Center of KP in Vushtrri did not agree to speak to Preportr about this issue. His only response was “I don’t want to speak about this issue. Bye”.
Niether Ahmeti, nor Zenun Pajaziti as Minister of Internal Affairs at the time did not resign as a moral act, although the scandal has shaken the good image that KP had in the public. None of the officers responsible for this room were held accountable. Some of them have changed working places, and some even got higher positions.
I don’t want to speak about this. Bye
Sheremet Ahmeti
Closed investigation, no results
While no one wants to take responsibility, the investigation regarding the robbery in the evidence room wasn suspended. The investigation period has expired, since the case happened over three and a half years earlier. This was confirmed by EULEX.
“Zeri” newspaper reported a few months ago that this case lacked the essential elements in finding the culprits, fingerprints, initial photos, suggesting that the very investigation itself might have been sabotaged..
“The case has been handed over to EULEX a few months later, after the robbery of more than 50 kilos of gold and hundreds of thousands of euros took place. In fact, EULEX was given almost nothing since ‘the crime scene’ never took place...later when EULEX was given a sort of a dossier, almost everything in it resembled an attempt to conceal what had happened”, an anonimous source from KP told “Zeri”
Officers who were responsible for this room were never dismissed. They continue to work in KP in high positions.
Fatos Haziri was director of Serious Crimes, his deputy was Haxhi Krasniqi, while Senad Kelmendi was in charge of overseeing the surveillance cameras, which did not function on the day of the robbery.
Preportr has inquired with UNMIK, EULEX and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but none deemed to respond. The Kosovo Police also refused to speak about this.
“Golden cops, these Peja guys“
The other case involving the robbery of the evidence room in the Kosovo police took place in the Peja Region, but that saw a much quicker response than the one in the central command.
Just a few months after the theft of a large quantity of gold, four people have been arrested, among them the chief of investigations in the Regional Peja Police, Ragip Bytyçi. The commander of the Peja Region was moved to Istog as Police Commander.
The internal joke of police fellows inside KP about Peja officers is “Peja cops, golden cops”.
The international notoriety of the kosovar police officer
As part of this research, Preportr has requested an interview with the General Director of the Kosovo Police, Shpend Maxhuni, and after a month of waiting, we got not response whatsoever. Information officers in KP tried to justify this saying that the General Director had not as yet received a permission from Personnel Chief as regards the interview. However, he was seen giving promotional interviews in kosovar media.
While Kosovo Police officers did not agree to speak about the crime in the Kosovo Police, former officers of this agency admit that crime is spread in KP, and they yild analysis and factors that led the police to be plagued by crime.
Former director, Behar Selimi believes that the key factor that allowed crime in the Police should be traced back during the establishment of this institution. According to him, the evaluation of the first generation of officers was inneficient as to prevent persons with criminal past, or those with criminal tendencies to be employed in KP.
The mistake was made and consequences are obvious. Apart from criminal activities in Kosovo, officers were also caught committing crimes outside of the country. In July of this year, a local judge in the District Court of Prishtina confirmed the charge submitted by a EULEX Prosecutor regarding the detention of six suspects, one of them a high ROSU officer related to a robbery which took place in Barcelona, Spain in July 2009.
The charge was confirmed against Haki Januzi, Artan Xhaferi-Jelliqit and Shemsedin Benarba, who are accused of first degree theft. Artan Xhaferi-Jelliqi was also accused of control, possession and unauthorized use of weapons.
The notoriety of the kosovar officer is becomning famous also due to reportings of prestigious media. A few weeks ago, the german prestigious “Der Spiegel”, in an article about Kosovo describes the Kosovo Police as drenched in corruption.
This article was written by a Gemrna officer engaged in Kosovo, who wanted to remain anonimous. In his articlke for Der Spiegel, this officer says that nothing at all has been achieved, and that he is disappointed with the Kosovo Police. He writes that, despite the many years of intensive training and equipment of european standard, Kosovo Police officers are much more interested in managing the traffic than fighting crime.
"It is my impression that corruption in the Kosovo Police is very much widespread. When someone is caught with a stolen car, a bribe for the officers solves the problem” writes the German officer.
Elements of BIA are caught, then released by EULEX
That small crimes take place in the police is also admitted by former officers of this security institution. But those crimes, according to them, are small and mostly in the form of bribery. But for them, the blame for allowing the infiltration of criminal elements in the police lies with the internationals, who did not even deem to let locals any close to the recruitment process in the beginning.
This stems from many reasons which are related to the lack of a proper mechanism of verification of persons who after the war applied for the post of officer. The responsibility for this lies also with the internationals, since they were the first who undertook the recruitment of officers.
Rexhep Selimi, former minister of the Internal Affairs in the Interim Government of Kosovo says that KFOR, UNMIK and OSCE, which dealt with the recruitment of the police, did not take into consideration the recommendations of the locals. According to him,this led to criminal elements, even war crimes suspects to be introduced in the Kosovo Police.
Thirteen years after the war, some elements are surfacing. Only three weeks ago, an officer from the serb community, the identity of which remains unknown, was arrested with charges of rape during the war in Kosovo.
Another case of recording obtained by the public broadcaster shows an officer of the Serb community of the Kosovo Police collaborating with some members who were at that time known as members of BIA, the agency which replaced the former UDBA, recruiting people as witnesses, having supposedly been traficced for organs during the war in Kosovo. This person, a member of the police, was not dismissed from his duty, although it is said that he can be seen in the video. The EULEX judge of the preliminary procedure on this case had not confirmed the charge.
Vengeful police officers
Kosovar officers have often behaved like cosa nostra. They have proven to be capable of “taking justice in place”. This happened in the case involving the explosion close to the bar of Enver Sekiraqa, where two officers were proved to have been involved, namely Besnik Hasani and Shpend Qerimi. These two officers were attempting to revenge the killing of their friend, officer Triumf Riza. As a consequence of the explosion, two random citizens were killed, and more were heavily injured. EULEX had sentenced Hasani and Qerimi to 30 years of prison each.
Another case involving these two persons is the killing of three people, two of them children, for which they were given 33 years of prison each. This case also was related to the one involving Sekiraqa. The victim, an inhabitant of village Soponice of Kaqanik had spread the word in the village that the explosion was undertaken by Hasani and Qerimi. He was ambushed at the bridge of this village. Along with him, two other people were killed and another two wounded.
Two police officers from Peja Region, for vengeful reasons, have committed the murder of four persons (Abuse of firearms, 2007 report, page 78). One of the murders had taken place inside the police facilities, whereas the other while escorting the detained to the police station.
Accusation against SHIK members in the Police
Despite numerous cases of serious crimes in the Kosovo Police, very feq changes took place in the leading structures of this institution. The only punishment applicable in KP leadership regarding crime cases is change of positions. This happened with the case of the robbery of two evidence rooms in Prishtina and Peja.
It has often been said that KP is filled with structures of SHIK, which lead the most important areas of this institution. In this respect, former director of police, Reshat Maliqi had began to cleanse the police from names mentioned in court cases as being former members of the Kosovo Intelligence Service.
When Maliqi had undertaken changes in the leading positions of the Kosovo Police, which till then had been frunctioning as acting positions, he had said that the changes were happening based on the performances of each person.
Maliqi did not manage to remain as director for long, because he was fired on the night of 25th of July 2011, when the Special Police Unit stormed in the north of the country.
Kosovo Prime minister, who had named Maliqi in this position, said in a media statement that Maliqi had resigned from duty. This was denied by Maliqi continuously and he pressed charges against Prime minister Thaci.
In interviews following his dismissal, Maliqi said that he had found out in television that he was fired from work. He implies that his dismissal might have come from the fact that he had degraded in positions some people suspected of links with SHIK.
Nazim Bllaca, the self-declared criminal of the murder squad of SHIK, and witness-collaborator in two EULEX cases, has accused two persons with high positions in the Kosovo Police as being members of SHIK.
Kadri Arifi, former assistant director of Police for Investigations during the time Maliqi was leading KP was moved to the position of assistant director of Personnel and Trainings within administration.
But Bllaca has in particular accused Emin Beqiri, former chief of investigations in the Prishtina region and now director of the department of economic crimes of being a member of SHIK. He was brought back to duty after the removal of Reshat Maliqi as police director and the placement of Shpend Maxhuni in the position.
Behar Selimi claims that he also carried out some changes. He said that as general director of the police he carried out changes in the organisational structure of the police “and I changed the working procedures...serious changes are necessary in the structures in order to prevent situations of police officers getting involved in crime, as well as penal-judicial measures for suspects”.
These measures mentioned by Selimi have rarely been put in place. According to EULEX data obtained by Preportr, only two cases have been treated involving suspected police officers. In one of the cases, the police officer was sentenced for abuse of official duty and receiving of bribery, and the second case involving officers was sent back for retrial.
Petty criminals, confirmed
Behar Selimi says that officers are involved only in small cases. “In my time, officers were involved in smuggling of goods, but also illegal immigration. Six of them were arrested in the border police. I had undertaken organisational changes, which prevented bribery especially, involving illegal immigration in the airport, as well as false documentation”, said Selimi.
In my time, officers were involved in smuggling of goods, but also illegal immigration
Behar Selimi, PDK deputy
Selimi said that as a result of these changes, two large criminal groups involved in human trafficking through forfeited travel documents and false visas were caught.
Statistics which “scream”
During the period 2007-2010 the data of the Kosovo Police Inspectorate reports show that over 590 complaints were received from citizens reporting maltreatment by the police, and as many investigations were initiated.
Since until the end of 2011, KPI did not have a mandate to investigate, it only compiled dossiers for these cases, which were then submitted to the Council for High Appointments and Police Discipline (KELDP). KPI has sent over 130 police to this institution only for the period 2007-2010, as suspected of improper behavior and breach of standards.
KPI investigates 383 police officers
Year 2011: KPI investigates 157 police officers for criminal actions
Year 2011: KPI pressed 46 charges against police officers
Year 2012: KPI investigates 226 police officers for criminal actions
Year 2012: KPI pressed 80 charges against police officers
Year 2010: 39 police officers were dismissed from work for serious administrative violations and criminal actions
Year 2011: 33 police officers were dismissed from work for serious administrative violations and criminal actions.
One year earlier, the legislation on KPI was changed, and this institution was given the opportunity to investigate and prosecute police officers, including the possibility of detaining them.
In 2011, KPI pressed 46 charges, from which 36 in the municipal prosecution and 10 iin the district prosecutions.
The KPI report of 2011 shows the criminal landscape “in paper” in the Kosovo Police. According to statistical data of KPI, 157 police officers are being investigated for criminal actions, out of which 147 are Albanian, 16 Serbian, 1 bosniak and 1 turk. From 16 serbs, 13 are from Mitrovica region. In total, 165 police officers and 16 citizens are involved in criminal activities.
Among criminal actions, the most common is ‘hazard to public traffic’ with 21 cases, ‘light body injury’ with 19 cases, ‘abuse of official duty or authorization’ with 18 cases, ‘bribery’ with 15 cases, ‘abuse during official duty’ with 10 cases, as well as other cases with smaller number.
The Kosovo Police Inspectorate only until October of this year has investigated 226 police officers for suspicions of criminal actions while on duty. These officers are suspected of taking bribes, abuse of duty, revealing of official secrets, forfeiting of documents, smuggling of goods, enabling prostitution, body injuries, etc., and 14 of them were dismissed from work.
KPI has pressed charges for 80 of these cases, which were proceded to prosecution, and regarding 54 other cases special reports were compiled.
Baki Kelani, KP spokesperson, in media statements had said that according to KP data, from January to August of this year, 9 police officers were sentenced for taking bribery and abuse of duty, 5 other officers were dismissed from work due to administrative violations.
“Due to criminal actions and administrative violations, 33 officers were dismissed from work during 2011, whereas during 2010 39 officers were dismissed from work”, said Kelani.