The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj challenging the decision to suspend the pretrial detention time limits.

Veliaj had appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision to suspend the calculation of the pretrial detention time limits following postponements of hearings in the trial on the merits of the case.

With its ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the position of the Special Jurisdiction Court of First Instance, rejecting the appeal filed by Veliaj.

The request reviewed by the Supreme Court concerned the decision to suspend the pretrial detention time limits.

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At the session on July 20, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council rejected the request of five prosecutors and 15 administrative employees from the Serb community, who had asked to withdraw their resignations submitted in November 2022. They were part of the wave of mass departures of Serbs from Kosovo state institutions.

At that time, around 130 members of the justice system, including judges, prosecutors, and administrative staff, withdrew from their duties in the four northern Serb-majority municipalities: North Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zveçan, and Zubin Potok. These resignations also extended to the ranks of the Kosovo Police and local administration.

The departures were orchestrated by the Serb List, the dominant political formation of Serbs in Kosovo supported by Belgrade, in reaction to the Kosovo Government’s initiative to convert license plates issued by Serbia to Kosovo ones, practically banning the former.

The proposal to reject the reinstatement came from the Council’s deputy head, Dardan Vuniqi, and was supported by the members. On the other hand, chairman Arian Gashi had suggested postponing the handling of the issue to a later meeting, arguing that a prior consultation with the Kosovo Judicial Council was needed.

The final step for the official removal of Serb prosecutors from the system rests with the acting president, Albulena Haxhiu. In mid-June, she had called on both councils to finalize the procedures without delay, stressing that the delays were harming the regular functioning of the justice system.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo Judicial Council told Radio Free Europe that they have not yet made a decision on similar requests from Serb judges to annul the resignations. They assured that the public will be informed in due time, but did not specify the number of judges and other employees who have expressed a desire to return.

The issue of unresolved resignations received renewed attention in the second half of June. On July 15, the European Union confirmed to Radio Free Europe that this topic is being addressed within the framework of the normalization talks between Kosovo and Serbia.

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