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By:
Saranda Ramaj
- July 6, 2021 16:08
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Two witnesses are being heard today in the court session for the affair known as 'Grants in Agriculture', where the accused is former minister Nenad Rikalo, senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture Kapllan Halimi, Shefki Zeqiri and Ekrem Gjoka and other officials of this ministry Shkelzen Morina, Leon Thaçi, Lindar Krasniqi and Albana Zeqiri.
The first testimony was started by Fllanza Balaj Kurtishaj, director of Finance and General Administration in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Prosecutor Habibe Salihu, who represents this case, asked the witness Kurtishaj about her participation in the working group for a special program, from which program the grants for which the defendants are accused were given.
But the witness said that despite the fact that she was in the working group, she did not participate in the drafting of the program for this issue, as she saw a ready document for such a thing.
'In that meeting where I was, it was not discussed who prepared the draft. It was presented as a document, but not in detail,' she said.
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Frauds with grants - the two prosecution witnesses praise former minister Rikalo
He repeated that he did not contribute to that document.
I don't know who prepared it. The draft was ready," said Kurtishaj.
The lawyer of Nenad Rikallos, Milodrag Brkljaq, confronted the witness with a record, in which Kurtishaj's participation in a work meeting for the "Special Grant Program" is claimed.
"The list is there, but the signature is different from what I have," she said.
Her testimony lasted about two hours. It has been challenged by the accused and their defense regarding the budget for this program. During her answers, the former secretary Kapllan Halimi found the answers of this senior official funny, which has made the judge, Mentor Bajraktari, withdraw the warning for her behavior in the courtroom.
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The second part of the trial is continuing with the testimony of the other witness, also a senior official in the Ministry of Agriculture, Bekim Hoxha.
Hoxha is a witness of the Special Prosecution. But until now, in almost most of the questions of the special prosecutor, Habibe Salihu, he answered with the phrase 'I don't remember' or 'I don't remember'.
Nenad Rilako's lawyer, Milodrag Brkljaq, asked Hoxha how Nenad Rikalo was as a minister. Hoxha, who has been invited as a witness by the Special Prosecutor's Office and with whom this Prosecutor claims to convince the jury of her accusations, has praised the former minister.
"As for the department, he supported us and understood the sector," he said.
Hoxha is the director of the Department of Viticulture and Winery in the Ministry of Agriculture.
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This case has started to be investigated after a research on this issue published in Koha Ditore about 3 years ago.
The investigation of the Anti-corruption Task Force that has been finalized in the indictment by the Special Prosecutor's Office claims that the accused in order to provide illegal benefits to companies such as: the consortium "Novus" SH.PK, for the grand profit "Construction of the modern market for products agricultural" in Pristina, the consortium "Dhemetra" LLC for winning the grant "Construction of the factory for the production of organic fertilizer" (not being at all in the list of projects that are covered by funding through grants), the consortium "DOO Zubin Potok" for the award of the "Project for the construction of investments in the facility for storage and storage of fruits", as well as the NTP consortium "Arena Engineering" in Peja, for the award of the "Meat Production and Processing" award in Peja, with the aim of acting in opposition to Law 04/L-090 amending and supplementing Law 03/L-098 on Agriculture and Rural Development article 5.1, article 8, article 13 paragraph 1.2, article 4, article 14.2 Law 03/L098 on Agriculture and Rural Development, article 8 and 9, regulation (QRK) no. 37/2013, article 7.1, paragraph 1.1, Guide and Handbook for drafting the concept of documents from the Prime Minister's Office.
