As Kosovo prepares for new Prime Minister Hashim Thaci to declare its independence in the days or weeks ahead, Kosovo society is wracked by corruption and organized crime. According to the estimate of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), organized crime accounts for some 15-20 percent of the Kosovo economy: a figure that would presumably be far higher if one subtracts the substantial portion of Kosovo GDP made up of foreign aid. Some of Kosovo's leading politicians, moreover, have been accused of connections to the organized crime networks. Citing unpublished intelligence reports, recent reports in the German media have accused former Prime Minister Ramush Haradanij, in particular, of being a key figure in the nexus between politics and organized crime. Haradinaj -- like Thaci and many of Kosovo's other leading politicians -- was a commander in the now formally disbanded guerrilla army, the Kosovo Liberation Army. He is currently on trial in The Hague for war crimes allegedly committed during the Kosovo War of 1999. The U.N. administration in Kosovo has itself been accused of complacency toward, if not out right collusion with the criminal networks. John Rosenthal spoke with Avni Zogiana of the Pristina-based NGO ÇOHU! (Wake Up!).
-o-
John Rosenthal: Your organization focuses on the links between organized crime and politics in Kosovo. Can you give us some idea of the nature of the problem and the particular forms organized crime takes in Kosovo?
Avni Zogiani: You've had cases where politics was mixed with organized crime in a very blatant manner: for example, cases of high officials who were found to be involved in arms smuggling or in money laundering. Because of the lack of integrity of the public sphere in general and especially the political institutions, very often you will find that a part of the money that goes to organized crime comes in fact from public funds. This is one aspect of the problem. Another aspect is human trafficking: women are brought to every corner of Kosovo to be sold into prostitution. Human trafficking in Kosovo is a very big deal and also drug trafficking is a big deal. However, I think that the organized crime that has been connected to political parties has been chiefly financed from public funds; whereas the part of organized crime involved in human trafficking and drug trafficking has represented a sort of independent structure that time after time was protected by political parties, but not necessarily directly connected to them. They have often been found to enjoy protection also from the judicial system: from the prosecutor's office and so on.
JR: Is that a strictly local system or does the judicial system in Kosovo today involve an international presence?
AZ: It does involve an international presence and the international presence covers the most significant or difficult cases. If, for instance, a case is related to the rights of minorities, they will take it. Or if high officials are involved, they will also take it: without any explanation, international judges or prosecutors will take over the case.
JR: And who makes that decision?
AZ: It is the exclusive decision of the Department of Justice, which is basically run by international prosecutors or judges here in Kosovo.
JR: When you talk about the connection of Kosovo's political institutions to organized crime, what persons or parties do you have in mind? Recent reports in the German media have pointed the finger, in particular, at Ramush Haradinaj and his party the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).
AZ: All three of the main political parties in Kosovo have had their informal structures: structures that at a certain time served the function of intelligence services, but sometimes they will also control illegal economic activities.
JR: Does that mean also the Democratic League of Kosovo, the party founded by Kosovo's first president Ibrahim Rugova?
AZ: Yes. Actually, for a time they probably had the strongest intelligence structures. For example, the head of his intelligence structure -- who also had the status of a "special advisor" to President Rugova -- was once even put in jail for illegal activities. The brother of this "special advisor" controlled a network of nightclubs involved in prostitution. All three of the biggest political parties have had their parallel structures and intelligence services: gangsters basically, who control part of the economic resources in Kosovo.
JR: What has been the role of the U.N. administration in all this? One high UNMIK official, the American Steven Schook, was recently removed from his post after it came out that he was under investigation by U.N. headquarters for alleged misconduct: apparently, among other things, because his relations with Haradinaj and other leading members of the AAK were supposed to be "too close."
AZ: For a lot of reasons, the UNMIK has tolerated these organized crime structures in Kosovo and their connection to politics. One of the reasons is that if you have politicians who have police files, you can control them easier: you have a tool of control. But the other reason is that these structures had the potential to derail the stability of Kosovo and security in Kosovo. But there were also economic reasons for the international officials' tolerance of the mixture of organized crime and politics. The case of the former Principal Deputy Special Representative Steven Schook is one example or indication of this. He was one of the main promoters of "Kosovo C": a new coal power plant that is a huge project.
Next Page: Kosovo C was highly controversial . . .
|