Musliu Reports Police Officer to PIK Over Physical Assault in Assembly Chamber

PDK MP Ganimete Musliu said that she was physically assaulted by a police officer during Wednesday’s plenary session of the Assembly. She said that she and PDK Secretary-General Vlora Çitaku had reported the officer to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate (PIK) over the incident.

Musliu said they had asked the PIK to investigate the police officer’s actions. She stressed that, as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Security, she has worked with dedication for 15 consecutive years to ensure that the Kosovo Police remains professional, depoliticized and has integrity, and therefore could not remain silent in the face of such an incident.

According to her, the response is intended not only to protect her personally, but first and foremost to safeguard the Kosovo Police as an institution and preserve its integrity. Musliu said that any possibility of the Police being placed under the orders or influence of any political party must be prevented.

In addition to holding the officer accountable, the MP demanded to know who called the Kosovo Police into the chamber where plenary sessions are held and who authorized their presence and intervention there. She said this information should be disclosed to both the Assembly and the public.

Musliu said that during a constitutive session in which the Assembly has yet to be constituted, procedural rules stipulate that the Police may be called into the chamber, if necessary, only by the person mandated to chair the session. For this reason, she requested public clarification as to whether, in this particular case, the request had been made by Avni Dehari.

She asked who gave the order, who called the Police and on what grounds they intervened in the Assembly chamber. According to Musliu, these are not personal matters, but questions concerning institutional accountability.

The MP stressed that when the Police enter the Assembly chamber and an MP is physically assaulted, the investigation should not be limited solely to the officer who carried out the act. According to her, the entire chain of command and responsibility that led the Police there must also be examined.

Musliu reiterated that she has worked for 15 years to ensure that the Kosovo Police remains professional, independent and has integrity, and therefore would not remain silent at a time when, according to her, these principles need to be defended more than ever. She said the Police must serve the law and the Republic of Kosovo, not political orders, while calling on all police officers and civil servants in the country to remain faithful to the law, the Constitution and their professional duties, without submitting to any dictate, pressure or political order that undermines the independence and integrity of state institutions.