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Kosovo's ex-anti-graft prosecutor jailed for bribe

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:37

A European Union-run court on Thursday sentenced Kosovo's former top anti-graft prosecutor to five years in prison for corruption, said the EU's rule-of-law mission. Nazmi Mustafi, former head of the Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo (SPRK), was found guilty of "abusing his official position", the EULEX mission said in a press release. Mustafi was charged with taking money to stop an investigation and cancel a former official's house arrest. He "was also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm," the statement said.

Five Kosovo ex-guerrillas arrested in war crimes probe

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 19:35

Police on Thursday arrested five ethnic Albanian former guerrillas suspected of war crimes against civilians during the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo, the EU rule of law mission said. The five were members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the guerrilla group that fought the armed forces of then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic during the war. "The five individuals are investigated for war crimes against the civilian population... held in a KLA detention centre," the EU mission known as EULEX said in a statement. EULEX did not identify the suspects.

Germany seeks 'visible' Kosovo-Serbia progress

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 13:45

Germany on Monday called for "visible" progress in implementing a landmark deal between Serbia and Kosovo before securing Berlin's backing for Belgrade's bid to join the European Union. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed the April 19 EU-brokered agreement to normalise ties between Serbia and its former southern province as "historic" but said momentum needed to be continued. "Such historic circumstances do not occur every day, and when they occur they have to be grabbed," Westerwelle told reporters after meeting top Serbian officials in Belgrade.

Germany seeks 'visible' Kosovo-Serbia progress

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 11:00

Ex-Kosovo officials probed for organ trafficking

Agence France-PresseMay 7, 2013 07:30

A former Kosovo health minister and another Pristina official are among eight suspects in a new EU probe into a human organ trafficking case, a local daily reported Tuesday. Last Wednesday, a day after a European Union-led court in Kosovo convicted five doctors of harvesting and selling kidneys at a Pristina clinic, the EU's Pristina mission announced the new probe without revealing the identity of the suspects.

Serbian PM Dacic says no referendum on accord with Kosovo

Kyodo News InternationalApril 30, 2013 18:03

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic on Tuesday ruled out holding a referendum on a historic agreement toward improving relations with Kosovo. In an interview with Kyodo News, Dacic, speaking through an interpreter, said, "There is not going to be a referendum," stating the Serbian government's position on the issue for the first time after it struck the deal with Kosovo on April 19.

Five doctors jailed for Kosovo organ trafficking

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 10:30

An EU-led court in Kosovo on Monday sentenced five doctors to up to eight years in prison for illegal organ harvesting and transplants. Former Kosovo health minister Ilir Rrecaj -- who admitted during the trial that he knew that illegal kidney transplants were carried out at the Medicus clinic in Pristina in 2008, but denied covering them up -- was acquitted. Prominent Pristina urologist Lutfi Dervishi got the stiffest term of eight years for "organised crime and human trafficking," the judge said in the verdict.

Five sentenced to jail for Kosovo organ trafficking

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 09:30

An EU-led court in Kosovo sentenced on Monday five people to up to eight years in prison for illegal organ harvesting and transplants at a Pristina clinic in 2008. The five defendants, among them prominent Pristina urologist Lutfi Dervishi, were sentenced to between one to eight years each, said presiding judge Arkadiusz Sedek from Poland. Two defendants in the trial that has opened in 2011 were acquitted. ih-an/txw

EU court to rule in Kosovo organ trafficking trial

Agence France-PresseApril 28, 2013 10:45

An EU-led court in Kosovo is expected to deliver its verdict Monday in the trial of seven people accused of illegal organ harvesting and transplants at a Pristina clinic. The panel of judges has heard often chilling testimony from over 80 witnesses -- both organ donors and recipients -- in more than 100 hearings since the trial began in 2011. Police raided the Kosovo clinic in 2008 after a Turkish man collapsed at Pristina airport waiting for a flight back to Istanbul after having had a kidney removed.

Serbian MPs approve deal on normalising ties with Kosovo

Agence France-PresseApril 26, 2013 17:48

Serbia's parliament on Friday gave its green light to an EU-brokered deal aimed at normalising ties with former foe Kosovo, a landmark accord already approved by the government. The deal, which has come under fire from ultra-nationalists and Kosovo Serbs, won vast backing in the 250-seat parliament, as MPs from the ruling nationalists' coalition and from the centre-left opposition had already indicated they would vote in favour of it. Out of 203 deputies present, 173 voted to approve the deal, while 24 were against it. The remaining six abstained from voting.