Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
Through an article published on January 24, the Serbian-language media outlet "politika.rs"has claimed that judicial processes in several cases against Serbs are linked to the electoral campaign of the Prime Minister and leader of Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti.
The article begins by reporting that representatives of the Serbian List are campaigning “door to door” in Mitrovica ahead of the February 9 elections. In contrast to the Serbian List, according to “politika.rs”, “Albin Kurti continued his aggressive pre-election campaign to confront Serbs and, in addition to brutal actions on the ground and harsh rhetoric, once again resorted to judicial prosecutions”.
What is wrong with this claim?
The claim linking Kurti to independent judicial processes in Kosovo is not based on facts.
The first mentioned court case:
"Thus, his prosecution filed an indictment the day before yesterday against MD from Babimost, who was arrested last year in Mitrovica. This Serb is accused of the events of May 2023, when Serbs attempted to prevent the violent incursion of the Albanian 'chairman', who was supported by special units of the Kosovo police and members of KFOR," says the article, which claims a connection between Prime Minister Kurti and court cases.
Meanwhile, the Kosovo Special Prosecution announced on January 22 that it has filed an indictment against the Minister of Justice on suspicion of the criminal offenses of "Assault on an official person" and "Participation in a crowd committing criminal offenses and hooliganism."
"After securing and analyzing personal and material evidence, it has been proven beyond a well-founded doubt that the defendant MD, on 29.05.2023, near the premises of the Municipality of Zveçan, in cooperation and coordination with other defendants of Serbian nationality from Kosovo and Serbia, through the use of violence, weapons and other strong means, attacked and seriously threatened soldiers of the KFOR peacekeeping mission and members of the Kosovo Police, causing bodily injuries and material damage," it is said in NOTIFICATION of this prosecutor's office.
At that time, in Zvečan and other municipalities in northern Kosovo, local Serbs protested against the entry of new Albanian mayors into municipal buildings. 93 KFOR members were injured in the violence during the protests, some of them seriously. (See here)
War crimes court cases:
"On the same day that the indictment was filed against MD, who since his arrest has been held in the dangerous prison in the village of Gërdoc near Podujevo, two separate trials were held at the Basic Court in Pristina, in the department for serious crimes, where two Serbs were accused of war crimes," it is stated in the article of "politika.rs".
The article mentions the cases against MP from Prizren, who is accused of war crimes against the civilian population during the war in Kosovo. On January 22, two people testified in the trial (see hereThe indictment against him was filed in June 2024.
And in the other case, ST is mentioned, who is also accused of war crimes in Vushtrri. (see here) The indictment against ST was filed in July 2023.
Comparisons:
"Politika.rs" further compared these cases against Serbs with that of the trial of a member of the Kosovo Security Force accused of injuring two people in Štrpce in 2023, reporting on the defense in freedom. (see here)
There was also an accusation of ethnically motivated indictments in another case against a Serb accused of violence against prisoners in the Pristina Prison during the war. But there, prosecutor Atdhe Dema responded by saying that if the party has evidence for this, it can present it to state authorities. (see here)
What does it say? CONSTITUTION of Kosovo for the independence of the judiciary?
The Constitution of Kosovo states that the judiciary in Kosovo is unique, independent, fair, apolitical and impartial and ensures equal access to the courts.
Article 4 i Law on the State Prosecutor states that it is an independent institution that exercises its functions impartially and that each prosecutor before the law ensures equal, objective and impartial treatment for all persons, without any discrimination, respecting the fundamental human rights and freedoms set forth in the Constitution, the legislation in force and international conventions. It also states that it is unlawful for any natural or legal person to interfere, obstruct, influence or attempt to interfere with or influence the State Prosecutor, during the performance of prosecutorial functions in relation to any investigation, procedure or individual case.
Even in Article 4 of Law on Courts, it is stated that "judges, when exercising their functions and making decisions, are independent, impartial, and uninfluenced in any way by any natural or legal person, including public bodies."
Analyze:
Serbian-language media outlet "politika.rs" has alleged a connection between the judicial processes against Serbs in Kosovo and the electoral campaign of the Prime Minister and leader of Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti.
On this issue, the media outlet in question has not mentioned any facts that prove the alleged connection.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info evaluates the claims of "politika.rs" as "conspiracy theories".
Reasoning:
"Conspiracy theories" are considered to be informational content that contains a false or unverifiable description of a phenomenon, event or person, presenting it as part or the result of a secret plan ("conspiracy"). The characteristic of these contents is that they present a series of claims, presented as facts, between which cause-effect relationships are established, without providing any reliable evidence.