Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
The allegation of the arrest of Hajredin Kuçi, former Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, by the Special Court has been published.
The claim was found published on December 5 in several Albanian-language media outlets such as: "RTV Dukagjini","RTV Dukagjini/Facebook","All1","TV Arbëria","Lajmi.net","GazetaInfokous.com”And“Kosovo-sot.info".
What is the truth?
For this claim, some of these media outlets referred to the reporting of the medium “Paparaci.com”. However, it seems that this medium has interfered with the content of the information by indicating that a raid was carried out on Kuçi’s house (see here).
A few days later, the Special Court announced that Kuçi had not been arrested.
The news about the raid on the former Minister of Justice's house was also published in several other Albanian-language media outlets (see here, here, here and here).
A day later, in a press release, the Specialist Chambers indicated the indictment against Hashim Thaçi, Bashkim Smakaj, Fadil Fazliu, Isni Kilaj and Hajredin Kuçi, for offences related to alleged unlawful attempts to influence witness testimony in the war crimes trial of Thaçi and others.
The announcement indicated that separate arrest warrants were issued for the first four, while a summons was issued for Kuçi. This indicates that Kuçi was not arrested, as claimed.
Çthere is the call and çWhere is the arrest warrant?
Based on Amendment to the Constitution, Article 162 on the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor's Office, in paragraph 6, states that the Specialist Chambers may establish their own rules of procedure and evidence, in accordance with international human rights standards and guided by Kosovo Criminal Procedure Code.
Hibrid.info has checked the Kosovo Criminal Procedure Code to find measures that provide for ensuring the presence of the defendant.
According to Article 173, the measures that can be used to ensure the presence of the defendant, to prevent the re-commitment of the criminal offense and to successfully implement the criminal procedure are: summons, arrest warrant, promise of the defendant not to leave the place of residence, prohibition to approach a certain place or person, appearance at the police station, bail and house arrest.
Article 174 determines that the presence of the defendant in criminal proceedings is ensured through a summons, which the court sends to the defendant in accordance with Chapter XXVII.
This article further explains the procedures for implementing this measure.
WHEREAS no 175 explains the measure of the arrest warrant, which is issued by the pre-trial judge, the sole trial judge or the presiding judge ex officio, at the request of the state prosecutor, or in urgent circumstances at the request of the police when the conditions from paragraph 1 exist. i Article 187 of this Code, or when the defendant, after being duly summoned, fails to appear and does not justify his absence, or when the summons could not be sent to him duly and when, under the circumstances, it is clear that the defendant is avoiding accepting the summons.
Analyze:
The claim about the arrest of Hajredin Kuçi by the Special Court is incorrect.
An indictment has been filed against Kuçi by this institution, but Kuçi's presence as a defendant in criminal proceedings has been decided to be ensured through a summons, as one of the measures used to ensure the presence of the defendant, based on the Kosovo Criminal Procedure Code.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info assesses this content as "Unverified Content".
Reasoning:
The "Unverified" rating is given to those informative contents that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which could not be verified due to certain circumstances (speed, lack of sources) during the publication of the content.