Agricultural subsidies (Lekaj and others)
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On 10 July 2018, the Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo charged Pal Lekaj, former mayor of Gjakova, and other municipal officials with abuse of their official position or authority in the distribution of subsidies to farmers in Gjakova. Estimated subsidies of €631,671.82 were earmarked for distribution to roughly 3,000 farmers through the company Union-VL. Union-VL was not chosen through an open call but in an “arbitrary” way, and approximately 40 per cent of the farmers are suspected not to have received their entitled subsidies.
- Country
- Kosovo
- Sector
- Agriculture
- Offence
- Abuse of official position or authority
- Phase
- 1st instance procedure
Description of the case
On 10 July 2018, the Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo charged Pal Lekaj, former mayor of Gjakova, and other municipal officials with abuse of their official position or authority in the distribution of subsidies to farmers in Gjakova. Estimated subsidies of €631,671.82 were earmarked for distribution to roughly 3,000 farmers through the company Union-VL. Union-VL was not chosen through an open call but in an “arbitrary” way, and approximately 40 per cent of the farmers are suspected not to have received their entitled subsidies.
The prosecution also alleges that Lekaj and other officials took additional municipal funds and transferred them to the Union-VL account, causing harm to the municipality and to the farmers who did not receive subsidies.
In addition, the subsidies were allegedly authorised by the accused without any supervision of their actual payment to farmers. Moreover, there was no contract with Union-VL. However, the chairs and members of the committees in charge of overseeing the distribution of the subsidies have allegedly compiled reports stating that the distribution was done correctly.
The farmers who did not receive their subsidies are members of an economically vulnerable group, which has been discriminated against by the defendants’ actions in the case.
Applicable corruption offence
Abuse of official position or authority (Article 414 of the Criminal Code)
Suspect’s institutional affiliation
Lekaj is a former mayor of Gjakova, former leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo parliamentary group and former minister for infrastructure. The other defendants are municipal officials of Gjakova.
Date of offending
2008 to 2014
Sector affected
Agriculture
Related developments
Lekaj’s indictment did not stop the former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj from naming him as minister for infrastructure.
Court
Basic Court of Gjakova
Current phase of the case in criminal procedure
1st instance procedure
Procedural history
The prosecution issued its decision to begin investigations on 12 April 2016. An indictment was filed on 10 April 2018 and the first hearing took place on 31 May 2018. On 24 July 2018, the Basic Court of Gjakova overturned some parts of the indictment. In November 2018, the Court of Appeals reinstated the case and referred it back to the Basic Court of Gjakova.
On 3 January 2019, the defendants filed another request to dismiss the whole indictment, but their request was denied by the Basic Court of Gjakova on 10 January 2019. The court confirmed the indictment of Lekaj, Isufi and Hajdaraga, but released Pashk Syla, Bekim Syla, Teuta Mejzini and Dafina Thaqi from the charges, overturning the parts of the indictment in which they stood accused.
On 10 March 2019, the Court of Appeals further confirmed the indictment of Lekaj, Isufi and Hajdaraga.
In April 2019, the Basic Court of Gjakova decided to involve new financial expertise in the case. The latest session was held on 21 February 2020, when the last group of witnesses gave testimony.
Resolution of the case
Case ongoing
Applicable minimum and maximum penalty
1 to 10 years in prison plus a fine
Charges pressed by the prosecutor in the actual case
N/A
Sanctions imposed
N/A
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