Corruption in sale of Serb property

BELGRADE - A special task force, formed as part of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), has been investigating for 14 months now the corruption allegations concerning the EULEX top tier, reads the Belgrade-based daily Blic on Monday.

According to the daily, one of the contentious cases is related to the sale of the Serb property in KiM.

"The case was led by an American prosecutor who left the mission in protest, because Albanian judges who verified the documents and were involved in corruption were cleared of any responsibility and guilt thanks to EULEX's assistance," reads Blic.

"Members of the EU Mission took the money, and the only punishment for the judges (ethnic Albanians) was a three-year suspension," Blic reports.

Even a more dramatic case is related to the Drenica Group of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA- the former paramilitary unit of ethnic Albanians) that was accused of crimes against civilians in 1998 and 1999.

The Group's leader Sami Ljustaku was seen the day before his arrest, in mid-2013, with senior EULEX officials who told him that he would be arrested, but that the case against him would be "weak", and that the Drenica Group would manage to get away without punishment, the Belgrade-based daily says.

A Blic source from EULEX's top tier says that the case concerning the KLA leaders from Drenica has gone so far that some members of the Group were even allowed to leave the detention units during nights and have fun in Pristina's restaurants.

The EU special taskforce even noted that members of the group sat with Kosovo Justice Minister Hajredin Kuci , Foreign Minister Enver Hodzaj and Kosovo Prosecutor Ismet Kabasijer, Blic quotes an unnamed source from the...