Pre-trial judge rejects prosecutor’s request to file indictment for document forgery and money laundering

Pre-trial judge Vesel Ismaili has not accepted the claim of the Prosecutor of the Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo for the charge of “document forgery and money laundering” against E.M., K.A., E.LL, K.LL and I.L, as well as the legal entities: “M…”, “AHK” and “QKK”.

At the center of the Special Prosecution Office’s accusation are two well-known businessmen, Ekrem Lluka and Klodian Allajbeu.

According to information from the Basic Court, namely the pre-trial judge Vesel Ismaili, was not convinced by the prosecutor of the case that there is sufficient evidence for his claims, consequently he did not accept the request.

Radio Free Europe had requested more details about the indictment from the Prosecution Office and the Basic Court, as well as access to it, but had not received a response.

Local media in Kosovo, including the specialized media outlet for the rule of law in Kosovo, Betimi për Drejtësi – which said it had obtained the indictment – ​​have reported that the indictment has been filed against Ekrem Llukë, in his capacity as the owner of the Kosovo Cardiac Center, against Korab Llukë, Klodian Allajbeu, as the owner of the American Hospital in Kosovo, against Igli Larash, and the owner of Medbrad KS, Edlira Malaj.

If the prosecutor does not provide convincing evidence, this case will be dismissed; as in fact, the defense teams of the defendants have testified; who have said that “in the absence of facts, they hope that from the start the indictment will be dismissed”.

The Dukagjini Group has declared complete innocence for one of its companies, as a reference for the Kosovo Cardiac Center.

Through a post on Facebook, the Dukagjini Group said that it has not yet accepted the indictment.

“There [in court] we will prove not only the innocence of our subsidiary and its executives, but also the personal and unlawful persecution to which they have been subjected during the three years of investigation of this case.”

The American Hospital in Kosovo has also said that it has not officially accepted the indictment and has criticized the Prosecutor’s Office for making the indictment public “before fulfilling its obligation to deliver the indictment to the American Hospital or its lawyer.”

“The accusations made by the Prosecutor’s Office and made public are absurd. The American Hospital reserves the right to hold the Kosovo state authorities and their officials responsible for damaging its reputation,” the hospital said in a Facebook post.

A lot of dust was thrown about this case – not because of the prosecutor’s arguments, but because of the errors in the procedure and, above all, for an attempt to politicize the case.