Kosovo Politicians Tainted by Crime Claims

Kosovo MP Fatmir Limaj appeared in court as the main defendant in a corruption case on Tuesday, at the same moment that the Central Election Commission was in the process of certifying candidate lists that include his name.

Limaj, who denied the charges, stands accused, among other things, of manipulating tender procedures, giving and receiving bribes and obstructing evidence in relation to three tenders put out by the the Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunication (MTPT), for personal or material benefit between 2008 and 2010, when he headed up MTPT.

Limaj's Initiative for Kosovo, NISMA, recently joined the coalition with the Kosovo Democratic Party, PDK, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK to stand in elections on June 11.

PDK's Mergim Lushtaku, is also on the list. He is one of 24 people charged with being involved with plots to help former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Sami Lushtaku [his father] escape from custody three times while he was on trial for war crimes.

Another PDK candidate that is being investigated by the Special Prosecution is Zenun Pajaziti, who is involved in a case surrounding the wiretapping of phone conversations of high-up PDK officials which reportedly illustrate the party's powers of political patronage over top public sector jobs.

In terms of the coalition between Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK and former President, Behgjet Pacolli's Alliance New Kosovo, AKR, only the LDK candidate Naser Osmani is facing corruption charges.

Naser Osmani is involved in an ongoing trial, facing charges over the privatisation of a factory at a time when he was a board member of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo. The Special Prosecution started investigations against...