The Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) criticized the decision of Kosovo’s government to terminate the Anti-Corruption Task Force within the Kosovo Police.
The policy-based think tank in Kosovo, GLPS considers that such a decision demonstrates interference and extension of power.
“…is extremely concerning and is a direct tendency of the government to extend its influence and interfere in the investigative processes of senior political and institutional officials,” GLPS reaction reads.
Established by a Government Decision in 2010, in cooperation with EULEX, the Task Force “has been praised as one of the most successful links in the fight against high-profile corruption, in international reports as the Progress Report (for Kosovo) and those from EULEX,” GLPS recalls.
“Moreover, the same institutions have recommended the strengthening of this Task Force, while the government has acted completely against this recommendation, extinguishing it completely “, they added.
In its first Justice Monitoring Report published on Monday, EULEX has assessed that the body played an essential role in the area of anti-corruption detection, initial steps and investigations.
The Anti- Corruption Task Force operated with 30 investigators and its head, who reported to the Investigation Department of the Kosovo Police.
During the last ten years, the task-force dealt with several high profile cases.
Through a press release, the government explains that it considers that this issue “should be regulated by the functioning legislation of the Prosecutorial Council and that the mandate of EULEX has already been changed”.
