The agency’s annual report for 2013 said that 128 criminal charges were filed against 238 people. It also stated that the most corruption was still found in public procurement.
Moreover, BalkanInsight says that from November 2013 to February this year, “prosecutors (brought) only 83 indictments for corruption against 196 people”.
Hasan Preteni, head of the Anti-Corruption Agency, said that, “[Local judges and prosecutors] enjoy the stability, security and financial independence [to bring indictments], but lack the courage.
“A justification that local prosecutors use when they drop a case and don’t raise any indictment is to say ‘intent was not proven’." According to the Criminal Code, “intent [for a crime] does not have to be proven - one can still (bring) an indictment by analyzing the nature of the offence.”.
Laura Pula, the prosecutor’s national coordinator for corruption cases, rejected the idea that the system pulls its punches and said, “We analyze all information coming from the Anti-Corruption Agency and then we decide whether the elements of a criminal offence are there.”
Transparency International ranked Kosovo 111th out of 176 countries in terms of corruption, one of the metrics to be considered as the country’s seeks further European integration.
