Kosovo Prosecutors 'Close to Finding' Politician's Killer

“With the evidence collected, we are on the right track and will be able to identify the person who committed this criminal act,” Shpresa Bakija, the chief prosecutor in the town of Gjakova/Djakovica, told Balkan Insight.

The former manager at the Post and Telecommunications of Kosovo and prospective MP was gunned down in the early hours of June 15.

Bakija said investigators had found important evidence at a house that Pista owned and an apartment that he rented. 

The prosecution has also interviewed about 13 witnesses who were present in the Haja Petrol restaurant in Rahovec/Orahovac, where Pista was shot in the back several times.

Police, offered a 10,000 euro reward for information, said they believed that the suspect was hiding behind a wall and hit the victim with four bullets.

But the motive for the killing of the politician, who ran for parliament in the general election on June 8, remains unclear.

The killing has been condemned by President Atifete Jahjaga, and by outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, who called on the authorities to resolve the case as soon as possible.