The candidate for deputy from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Përparim Gruda, has said that the Bureau for the Confiscation of Unjustified Assets is “tired” of the Vetëvendosje Movement.
In the Debate on Justice on the show “Timely Elections” on KTV, Gruda stated that from the end of the February elections when the institutions were constituted until now when the Assembly was dissolved, it was possible to create this Bureau, but according to him the LVV did not want to do it.
Gruda has stated that, in principle, it is not a matter of confiscation of property.
“We sent it to the Constitutional Court and we won the case, we stopped it from being the way they wanted it to be, which was a repressive body and went to the Venice Commission. This Commission said that this office can be done with these criteria: it does not confiscate property, it does research, it is sent to the court, then the court decides. The Minister of Justice herself said in the commission where I was and in the Assembly that the Bureau does not confiscate, it came in accordance with the standards of Venice, but there were issues left unaddressed, they didn’t want to address them, then we voted against it, because they have had the opportunity since February, Gruda said.
The PDK candidate for deputy has also highlighted that it is more convenient for the Vetëvendosje Movement not to establish this Office because once it is done “citizens will see that it is nothing, it does not confiscate property”.
The Constitutional Court of Kosovo has twice declared unconstitutional the Law on the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets.
In the first decision of 2024, the Constitutional Court has assessed four articles of this law as contrary to the Constitution and, considering the importance of these articles, has declared the Law on the State Bureau invalid in its entirety.
Meanwhile, in January of this year, the Constitutional Court found that the Assembly violated the rules when it passed this law.
With this law, it is intended that all public officials in Kosovo be subject to asset verification if there are doubts that it was acquired illegally.
A month ago, the Assembly approved in principle the draft law on the State Bureau for Asset Confiscation.
81 MPs voted in favor of this bill, with 25 abstaining.
PDK and LDK have requested changes in the draft law, stressing that only with the proposed changes they will vote on it further.
The PDK has requested a public debate on this law and also cited the Constitutional Court’s remark that within this law, issues cannot be left to be regulated by by-laws. The lack of an efficient compensation mechanism was also mentioned if a person whose assets are blocked turns out to have had no unjustified assets.
The PDK has also mentioned that the law is called the Law on verification and confiscation and it does not fit the content, since the bureau does not confiscate, therefore it cannot be named like that.
Elections in TIME – Debate for justice
