“These charges are in connection with the alleged misconduct of a local Kosovo Special Prosecutors Office (SPRK) prosecutor and two others who, allegedly, extorted sums of money from a suspect in a case,” according to a EULEX news release.
In a joint operation with EULEX, Kosovo police also arrested Reshat Zherka and are still searching for a third suspect. Zherka and the other individual are suspected of acting on behalf of Mustafi to extort money from the subjects of his investigations.
Mustafi has presided over the task force since its inception in 2010, which has dealt with a number of high profile cases in the world’s second newest country, including the investigation into the director of Kosovo’s Central Bank, Hashim Rexhepi. Rexhepi was arrested in July 2010 on corruption charges and acquitted in January.
Before heading the task force, Mustafi worked as a prosecutor.
According to Balkan Insight, EULEX has been investigating Mustafi for more than a year after noticing that most of the cases he handled were dropped due to a lack of evidence, or ended with suspects being granted parole.
In its most recent progress report on Kosovo, the European Union said the small Balkan country is still dogged by organized crime, corruption, money laundering and poor implementation of the rule of law.
