13 December 2002, Friday Edition

CONTENTS

Steiner doesn't consider Assembly remarks, appoints judges/prosecutors (dailies)

All dailies reported that UNMIK chief administrator Michael Steiner ended the debate at the Kosovo Assembly on judicial appointees by exercising his authority guaranteed in the Constitutional Framework. The SRSG appointed 42 judges and prosecutors to work in the 'fragile' judicial system in Kosovo, some of whom, though not all, were sworn in on Thursday.

The appointees included 21 Serbs, 19 Albanians, one Gorani, and one Bosniak. This diversity is regarded as 'necessary progress for the establishment of a multiethnic, professional and undivided judicial system in Kosovo'.

On two occasions in November, Kosovo Assembly deputies disputed the list of individuals recommended by the Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, with the justification that some didn't have the appropriate professional background and others were part of the justice system during Milosevic's regime in Kosovo from 1989-1999.

According to article 9.4.8 of the Constitutional Framework, the SRSG appoints judges and prosecutors from lists of candidates recommended by the Council, which then go to the Kosovo Assembly for endorsement. The KA must submit the list of recommended candidates, with comments and recommendations, to the SRSG for final approval.

According to UNMIK, the Council made 42 recommendations to the Committee on Judicial, Legislative and Constitutional Framework Matters on 1 November. However, the Committee, in turn, only recommended approval of a certain number of the proposed candidates, while the KA asked Steiner for additional time to consider the candidates.

According to UNMIK officials, on 25 November, the Council sent a letter to the Assembly asking that additional information be provided on the proposed candidates, if requested. 'Nevertheless, we did not receive any such requests from the Council, neither did the Assembly give their recommendations on the list proposed by the SRSG,' according to UNMIK.

Ramush Tahiri, advisor to KA speaker Nexhat Daci, says that appointment of judges is a competency of SRSG Steiner and that the Assembly doesn't decide this issue. 'Steiner has appointed the judges and prosecutors, and the Assembly doesn't usually react to his decisions,' he said.

According to previous statements by Kosovo Assembly deputies, the appointment of judges and prosecutors could be expected to become another issue of conflict between the Assembly and the SRSG. 'I don't see this as a new conflict,' Tahiri said, adding that he hoped the information sought by the Assembly would be handed over later by the Council. 'The data is being processed and I believe that the Assembly has the right to make remarks later. I believe Steiner will take into consideration the remarks of the Assembly, if they are reasonable,' said Tahiri.

Hydajet Hyseni, a Member of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency, remarked: 'We cannot take a position on this because we haven't received anything officially.' He added that he was surprised and posed the question: 'Is this a modern European practice that is being brought to Kosovo? By god, this is a good practice!'

President of the Kosovo Supreme Court Rexhep Haxhimusa said he is not allowed to voice an opinion on this issue. A similar response came from the Prishtina District Court President, Anton Nokaj. Selman Bogiqi, Investigative Judge of the District Court in Prishtina, said that he didn't know which of the new judges would work at his institution. 'I think the district judges in Prishtina should have been notified of the appointment of new judges,' he said. 'We have been informed that three new judges were appointed by the UNMIK chief administrator. But for things to be more reasonable for the Kosovo Assembly and the population, we should have received additional information on the work they did in last decade,' he added.

Judge Ramadan Berisha of the District Court in Prishtina says it isn't important if the Assembly gave their approval or if Steiner's did right by his appointments. But it is important who proposed them, and that the Kosovo Judicial and Prosecutorial Council is working.

Meanwhile, Serb officials have expressed their 'joy' that Steiner has appointed the judges.

Serb Justice Minister Vladan Batic welcomed Steiner's decision. 'This is the beginning of good relations. For us, it is very important that our people will be involved in UNMIK judicial structures… In our opinion this is a measure undertaken by the international community… The fact that these judges worked during the Milosevic period doesn't mean that they were his collaborators,' said Batic.

Serb Coalition Povratak chief Rada Trajkovic reportedly said: 'Steiner has started using his competencies deriving from Resolution 1244, when the Kosovo institutions failed to do so… This is the first time that Steiner is conducting his work in such a manner. I encourage him to keep using his privileges and to return Serb representatives to the Assembly.'

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Steiner, not the assembly, to have the last say on the budget, (Zëri)

UNMIK and the Ministry of Economy and Finance say that the Kosovo Consolidated Budget for 2003 awaits the green light today from the Economic and Fiscal Council (EFC), Zëri reported.

It is expected that at today's EFC meeting, a regulation to shut down the Central Fiscal Authority will be approved and the 2003 budget set. The EFC is comprised of four international officials and five local officials: Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, Minister of Finance and Economy Ali Sadrija, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Ahmet Isufi, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development Goran Bogandovic and Haki Shatri, substituting for Kosovo Assembly President Nexhat Daci. The EFC is a council that answers to UNMIK chief administrator Michael Steiner. After the budget for 2003 is approved by the EFC, it is expected that SRSG Steiner will sign it.

Unlike other countries where parliament approves the budget, in Kosovo it is still unclear if the budget will be brought before the Kosovo Assembly for the elected deputies to have the last word on this issue.

Nijazi Selmani, advisor to Minister Sadriju said that the MFE will send the proposed budget for 2003 to the Parliamentary Commission and that, according to procedure, the budget will be brought before Kosovo Assembly. The President of the Commission said so far they have received nothing, but if the MFE hands in the proposed budget then the commission will bring before the Kosovo Assembly. The procedure that should be followed is for the budget to be brought to the Assembly at least 20 days earlier, as 'in normal countries of the world'. It should be handed to the Assembly Presidency five days before its regular meetings, to be placed on the agenda, etc.

UNMIK Pillar IV spokeswoman Monique DeGroot says that 'final word on approval of the 2003 budget will be up to SRSG Michael Steiner and the counsel he receives from the EFC'. Asked if the budget will be brought before the Kosovo Assembly, she responded, 'The Economic and Fiscal Council is comprised of UNMIK representatives and members of the government and the Kosovo Assembly'.

Meanwhile, governmental officials warned that the EFC is not a decision-making body. This council will have an office after the CFA is shut down and it will deal with budgets of institutions under direct control of the SRSG.

The proposed budget for 2003 is 458 million euro. Local institutions are to receive 316.5 million or 69% of the overall budget; 142 million or 31% remains for the reserved powers.

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Inter-party intolerance (Zëri)

Zëri ran an editorial by Blerim Shala saying that all the recent problems in the field of education in Kosovo, as well as other 'problematic issues', are the result of interparty intolerance.

The issue of competencies, responsibilities and obligations is becoming the major problem for the functioning of the Kosovo Government. There are several reasons for this. First of all, there are two lines of government in Kosovo, with two legitimacies: the international government - UNMIK, which has UN SC Resolution 1244 as the source of its legitimacy; and the local government, which is legitimized through the vote. Even though it is obvious which is the superior government, since we know that UNMIK's ultimate aim is for Kosovars to govern themselves. So it is understandable why there are always tensions in the dynamics of passing competencies from the international administration to the local one.

Nevertheless, the key that opens all the gates on taking over competencies is the quality of local government and the consensus among the Kosovar governors.

Even though the government, on first sight, appears to have a consensus of the three major political parties in Kosovo, one doesn't have to be too clever to realize that many problems to do with the functioning of the government, wherever have competencies, are a consequence of the non-functioning of this consensus. There are three such cases; all three in education. First, was the teachers' strike, then the students, and now the issue of the elections at Prishtina University, where contradictions between the Ministry of Education and the University Rectorate can be observed.

Of course, it can't be seen, at least on the surface, that interparty intolerances are hidden behind all these problems. But if we removed the bandage covering the wound only slightly, we could see that the disagreements among our political parties are reflected in problematic issues.

Report criticizes international community on Kosovo returns policy (Koha)

Koha Ditore reports that the International Crisis Group (ICG), in its latest report on Kosovo, has criticized the international community for its policy toward the postwar return of displaced persons.

The Brussels-based think-tank concluded in its analyses that the focus of the international community has been on the numbers of individuals returning and not on the way the returns were conducted.

When Serb forces withdrew at the end of the war in June 1999, many members of Kosovo's Serb minority community fled to Serbia or Montenegro in fear of revenge attacks by members of the Kosovo Albanian majority.

Since then UNMIK and various international agencies have been trying to make possible their return to Kosovo.

However, the ICG report, Return to Uncertainty, backs the claim that the international community has not focused on international principles on returns by outlining the extreme divergence of returns policies and methods between two regions in Kosovo.

While the report praises the return of displaced people in eastern Kosovo as evidence that proper returns are possible, it blasts the situation in western Kosovo. The villages lacked access to essential services, dialogue with the receiving community did not take place, and income generating and access to public services were not addressed until after returnees came back, the report says of returns to western Kosovo.

The report concludes that Kosovo's unresolved political status has politicized the return of the Serbs, the largest minority community in Kosovo. It also criticizes the international agencies for neglecting the needs of returnees who belong to non-Serb minority communities.

According to ICG, so far only 5,800 individuals have returned to Kosovo out of more than 230,000 displaced persons.

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Rada Trajkovic names Kosovar institutions (Kosova Sot)

Kosova Sot says the Kosovo Assembly's approval of the declaration against the inclusion of Kosovo in the Preamble to the Serbia and Montenegro Constitutional Charter with only one 'nay' vote, cast by the Minister of Forestry and Rural Development, Goran Bogdanovic, was reason enough for Rada Trajkovic to accuse Kosovar institutions of 'terrorism, violence and discrimination'.

Kosova Sot suggests that to this 'senior official of Seselj's ultra-nationalist party', the role of the mediator at the Kosovo Assembly, initiated by SRSG Michael Steiner is not enough.

Kosova Sot says that since neither Steiner nor the international community can bring back the Serbian army and police and Rada Trajkovic wants to move around without a special police escort in Kosovo, she should change her political tactics. She shouldn't use language that induces interethnic hatred, language that is sanctioned in all democratic countries.

UNMIK says these accusations are Trajkovic' personal opinions and that there is no terrorism or violence at Kosovar institutions, but that the possibility of discrimination or minority dissatisfaction cannot be excluded. One UNMIK official said that Trajkovic's special police escort is not news, since 'we all know that there is still no freedom of movement'. 'This is also in Steiner's eight standards; and this is why the SRSG, at his last meeting with PM Rexhepi, expressed dissatisfaction with the non-integration of ethnic groups,' the UNMIK official was quoted as saying.

Kosovar officials say that Rada Trajkovic might deceive internationals about discrimination but not Kosovar institutions. Xhavit Haliti, a member of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency, said these accusations aren't new; they have been heard for decades. 'She has returned to the past and, as usually happens with that policy, she is calling on somebody to rescue her from somebody else,' he said. Convinced there is no terrorism or violence in Kosovo institutions, Haliti said, 'She should know that as long as Kosovo exists, the Albanian vote will dominate over the Serb vote because this is dictated by the structure of the population'.

Dean's Office and Ministry continue to reject each other's decisions (dailies)

Koha Ditore reports that the University of Prishtina Senate has rejected a request by Education Minister Rexhep Osmani, who wrote to ask for suspension of the process of electing new faculty deans.

Koha Ditore claims that it took a 40-minute debate for the Senate to decide that elections should be held and that the decision signed by Osmani rejected.

UP decided to respect the provisional status and say 'yes' to the elections. In the meantime, University Dean Zejnel Kelmendi said that if the bill on higher education were signed, the University would determine a new status and organize new elections for faculty deans.

Koha Ditore reports that the majority of UP senators referred to Osmani's decree as interference in the internal affairs of the university. Some of them even said that this was an act, which attacks the UP's authority as an autonomous institution.

According to Koha Ditore, UP senior official Arsim Bajrami said that the issue was not a crisis between institutions of higher education, but a temporary disagreement.

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B2 recovers - the problem of bad quality coal surfaces (Zëri)

Zëri writes that if a schedule of three-on/three-off is considered a stable power supply situation, then this was achieved yesterday after a terrible period. Block number two of Kosovo B has finally recovered after many system's failures. According to Kosova B director, Avni Kurshumliu, there are no more technical problems; the block started working on Wednesday and it is still producing, even though not yet at maximum capacity. "Power production has reached the level of 200 MW/h and we are [feeling] optimistic. I don't believe there are going to be further problems," he said, and added that B2 is expected to produce 300 MW/h soon, as promised by the contractor.

"We can't keep the contractor here until it reaches the required level of production, but normally we don't sign the takeover document until we are convinced that everything is functioning according to the contract," Kurshumliu was quoted as saying. The Alstom Company completed the repair works.

Zëri has also learned that the main reason only 200 MW/h is being produced is the quality of coal. There are 200,000 tons of coal stocked at the Kosovo B warehouse, so if all of it is of the same quality, this will be a problem; and these stockpiles have to be used since coal digging at Bellaqevc is out of production.

Yesterday, two blocks of Kosovo A, A1 and A4, were producing about 150 MW/h and another 120 MW/h are still being secured by imports. This is 470 MW/h altogether. If no surprises happen, and nothing is a surprising at KEK today, according to Zëri, the third block of Kosovo A should start production. If this happens, then after a long period light will be defeating darkness.

Mavraj: UNMIK applies painful pressure upon witnesses (Epoka e Re)

Epoka e Re carries the fifth part of a series of commentaries by Muhamet Mavraj, who today claims that UNMIK is pressuring witnesses. The full text of Mavraj's commentary reads, as follows:

Many times when the court justifies the extension of the detention of a suspect, or when their demands to defend themselves in freedom are denied, we also run into the excuse that 'this is impossible, because the accused would apply pressure on the witnesses'.

There are many speculations about 'pressure upon witnesses' or 'the possibility of ruining the indictment' or even 'the possibility of fleeing from Kosovo', even though none of the freedom fighters have done this so far, even when they knew that something was being prepared against them.

Recently it has been said that General Haradinaj would flee if he were released on bail! Whereas, in fact, Haradinaj went to the police himself to confront the evidence.

One of the defendants said that Commander Remi knew that his colleagues were in prison and yet reacted in a manly way against their arrests. He also knew that their final aim was to put him behind bars, too, but he went on summer vacation, returned, and two days later was arrested in the street in an improper manner.

Pressure upon witnesses. Until recently, not many of us believed that it is UNMIK that applies the most pressure upon witnesses, mainly upon prominent names from the war: money, asylum, change of identity, 'a safe life', all the way to abuse by force. Earlier we published, in a front-page photo, people beaten by the police. Witnesses who refused to become witnesses, or do not satisfy the demands of police investigators or prosecutors, were sometimes raided or humiliated on the streets when they ran into the investigators. They claim that these things happened to them because they refused to become false witnesses or because they want to live a peaceful life, or because they fear other family members if their names appear in the public.

The most preferred witnesses are those who 'need' to 'buy their freedom'. They have committed criminal acts since the war and they are caught in the trap. And so they become 'cooperative witnesses' and say what they were told to say. What do they gain by giving false testimony? Some of them have a license for arms [sic], but lose their families the minute it is found out what they do! This is their security! And if they have headaches, they spend their money for medicaments.

What happens to those who are arrested and refuse to sell their pride and give false testimonies? Some of them are humiliated by being put behind bars and no one speaks to them and no one even thinks about telling them OK, this is enough, we apologize, you can go home (for example, the case of Gani Imeri. He was stripped of his clothes in front of 20-30 people in Mitrovica prison to be humiliated). (We will publish the decision on his release in one of the next editions).

Alush Shala and Halil Qadraku, who were arrested in two different cases, said they were asked to give false testimonies against Sali Veseli. In fact, Qadraku said that he was offered millions to do this (I will publish his letter in this series). No harm done. It is absolutely normal to ask people to make false testimonies!

What happens to those who are not arrested and refuse to make false testimonies: they are raided. UNMIK applies painful pressure on these witnesses.

One has only to read the first part of the indictment against Remi, Latif Gashi, Naim Kadriu and Nazif Mehmeti to get an idea of who is being accused: these people as individuals or the Kosovo Liberation Army. These are attempts to criminalize the KLA.

But who was first mentioned as a 'damaged party' in the first indictment? Sabit Berisha. An old Albanian man, a former teacher, now in retirement, he refused to become a police witness and he was called by the defense; the court send him an invitation and he responded. The poor man suffered a lot, because he cried and no one showed the slightest mercy for him, even when he said that his family was massacred and whenever he thought of it he cried. Berisha demolished the false testimony of Milan Stankovic, a Serb from Serbia, who agreed to 'unfold' his story under God-knows-what terms. (He was one of the people who were pardoned by the KLA). The Albanian teacher Sabit Berisha was, incidentally, a 'roommate' of Milan's when they were stopped by the KLA in Llap.

I will let you decide about this testimony. The witness was raided after his testimony. (I apologize for the unedited text).

The questioning:
Name of witness: Sabit Berisha
Father's name: Halit Berisha
Mother's name: Hajrije Stublla
Profession: Pensioner
Area of residence: Konusevc, Podujeva
Date of birth: 19 March 1930
Connection with the accused: None
Connection with the damaged party: None

Investigative judge: What has changed your mind and made you come here and testify. We have police reports saying that you were called to testify and that you have refused?
Witness: I am ill. I have heart problems, problems with my stomach and back, and I live along. Four members of my family were killed, two were wounded and my health is very bad. (Witness is about to cry).

Investigative judge: Has your health condition improved since March?
Witness: No. I take medicines everyday.

Investigative judge: So, if it wasn't your health condition, why did you agree to give a testimony. Why have you changed your mind?
Witness: They didn't tell me that the court invited me. They only asked me if I would give a testimony. I didn't want to give a testimony. I said that I live alone and am ill. I didn't want to deal with courts and no one else because I can't stand these things.

Public prosecutor: Have you told the police that you were afraid to give a testimony?
Witness: I said I feared to go to court or the police because of my health.

Public prosecutor: Didn't you tell the police that you were afraid that someone would do you harm?
Witness: Anything can happen. I am ill. I didn't want to deal with anyone or give a testimony. After they told me that the court had invited me, I decided to come here. I apologize, but you can see for yourselves in what health I am.

Public prosecutor: Before you received the court invitation, has anyone talked to you about the testimony?
Witness: No

Mr. Tmava (attorney): I would only like to tell the judge that I have never seen the witness, since she said that I might know him.

Investigative judge: It is very possible that locals can know each other and it is more likely that the witness will recognize you as a local. And I was told that you were waiting for me for half an hour in the room, therefore, it would be normal for the two of you to say hello to each other.
Mr. Tmava: I was not waiting in that room.

Investigative judge: Mr. Berisha, you were told to come to court, because we have proof that you were arrested by the KLA. Can you tell us about this?
Witness: Yes, I was. It was August 1998, as far as I can remember. I was ill and cannot remember well, but I think that it was 1998. Five soldiers came to my house. They called me. I left my house at six o'clock in the morning. They told me I had to go with them to headquarters to be questioned. They took me and sent me in Bajgora.

Investigative judge: Have they showed you an invitation or a written document?
Witness: No. They took me in their vehicle and sent me there.

Investigative judge: Did you go there against your will?
Witness: No, I didn't object. They called me. They were soldiers. I might have said yes, but it was better for me to go on a voluntary basis. I don't know why I was called to go there. When I went to headquarters, there were three persons who told me that I should tell them what I had done for the Serb secret service. They asked me how many people I had sent to secret security, as if I was a traitor. I worked in an elementary school for 39 years as a teacher. They said they had a lot of evidence of my activities. I asked them to confirm the evidence and told them that if they could prove that I had really cooperated with the secret service they could hang me in the center of Podujeva. In case this was not true, I told them not to listen to liars and enemies. Then they told me that they had to keep me under arrest until they made all the necessary verifications. They sent me to a room with another man. In the meantime, other people were brought in the room and we were seven or eight prisoners in that room. Several days later, they came and told me: 'Sabit, come on, you will go home because we verified what you told us and that was the truth'. They apologized me for keeping me under arrest. They asked me if I wanted compensation for the damage they had caused me by keeping me in prison. I told them I wanted nothing from them. I also told them that they were only dealing with liars. This is everything I know.

Investigative judge: Therefore, Mr. Berisha, you despise liars?
Witness: No, I told them.

Investigative judge: I am asking you about what you think. Do you despise liars?
Witness: I don't like to deal with liars. I like honest people. I have always associated with Albanians and Serbs who were good people. I didn't make any differences between them.

Investigative judge: My question is, do you think that an honest man can lie?
Witness: No. Never.

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Belgrade Update

Serbian Prime Minister Djindjic's month press conference

The Belgrade DPI Press Section attended the Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic's monthly press conference. Speaking about the joint state of Serbia and Montenegro Constitutional Charter, Djindjic assessed that it would be ratified by both Republican Parliaments next week in the form of the adopted proposal. He added that all additional laws (such as the Constitutional law on the Constitutional Charter implementation) and bylaws, whose adoption could cause further delays, should be passed later on. He stressed that this would unblock negotiations on stabilization and association with the EU and would boost the Serbian economy, which could then take advantage of its export quotas.

Djindjic announced that his cabinet would be reshuffled, but refused to give names of ministers who would either be reappointed or sacked. He explained that everyone's work would be analyzed and evaluated before any decisions were made. Djindjic only stressed that experts in his Government would not be able to join any political parties, including G 17 Plus, and retain their ministerial posts, "If this happens, they will be forced to resign. However, I spoke with all of them and they all confirmed that they did not intend to join any political parties."

Djindjic made no mention of Kosovo at the press conference.

KPC to remain what it is, says Beardsley (Fonet)

As far UNMIK is concerned, there is no change of the KPC mandate and it remains a civilian formation for urgent interventions in cases of natural disasters, UNMIK press officer Eleanor Beardsley said on Friday. She reacted to information published in Belgrade media that the Head of CCK Nebojsa Covic had got possession of a document confirming that KPC was to be transformed into a Kosovo Defense Force.

Beardsley said that Covic's document could probably be a report by the US Institute for Peace, adding that this was not a secret document at all. 'This institute is an independent NGO and its views in no way reflect US or UNMIK policy. UNMIK has not changed its stance regarding KPC, which is to say it is a civilian formation for urgent interventions in cases of natural disasters,' she said.

Zavales doubtful about returns in 2003 (Beta)

John Zavales, fellow of the Washington based Western Policy Institute, assessed upon visiting Kosovo that the number of returnees would not be significantly increased due to security conditions. He rejected recent comments in the American press that Kosovo represented an example of the international community's successes, explaining that 'a relative decrease of interethnic and other violence was more the result of total separation of ethnic communities living there.'

'There are numerous obstacles for safe returns of IDPs. The most obvious are constant attacks on churches, monasteries and homes of ethnic minorities in Kosovo. There is also insufficient participation of non-Albanians in the work of Kosovo Assembly, as well as unwillingness of the Kosovo leadership to categorically condemn the interethnic violence and explicitly implement the UNSCR 1244,' said Zavales. He recalled that not long ago the inter-ministerial coordinator in the Kosovo Government had also expressed his doubts that the number of returnees would be significantly increased in 2003.

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Veselin Besovic released on bail pending trial (Beta)

Veselin Besovic from the village of Gorazdevac, who was accused of war crimes by the District Court in Pec, was released on bail pending trial, said his attorney, Zivojin Jokanovic. Besovic had spent 27 months in detention. The court's ruling was based on a motion filed by Besovic's defense that submitted the Serbian and Yugoslav Governments' guarantees for his release.