Artan Abrashi, an MP from the Vetëvendosje Movement, has supported the idea of Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu that an international investigation is needed into the incitement and organization of prisoner escapes from Kosovo prisons to Serbian territory, as well as the murder of Faton Hajrizi.
In a Facebook post, MP Abrashi said, “What Minister Haxhiu demanded is not only right but also very necessary.”
“A thorough international investigation is needed for the recent case that happened in Serbia involving the murder of the police officer and subsequently Faton Hajrizi. It would be appropriate for an international police structure such as the FBI, Scotland Yard, or similar entities to conduct this investigation,” Abrashi wrote.
Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, on Saturday called for the initiation of both local and international investigations into the incitement and organization of prisoner escapes from Kosovo prisons to Serbian territory.
According to her, the Serbian state is provoking and organizing the escape of prisoners, detainees, and individuals wanted by Kosovo’s justice system, in exchange for a “shielding environment from impunity and prosecution of criminals by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo.”
“A local and international investigation is essential to investigate the systematic acts of incitement, provocation, organization, and co-organization of the escape of prisoners, detainees, and individuals wanted by Kosovo’s justice system to Serbian territory, and the creation of a shielding environment from impunity and prosecution of criminals by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo. As the Minister of Justice, I offer our state’s full cooperation in this regard,” Haxhiu wrote.
She made this post on the social network Facebook, a day after Faton Hajrizi, who escaped from Smrekonica prison in Kosovo, was reported to have been killed by authorities in Serbia.
Hajrizi was wanted by Serbian authorities after reportedly killing a Serbian police officer and wounding another on July 18 during a routine check in Loznica, Serbia, a town near Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Serbian authorities have considered the attack a terrorist act and launched a major search operation.
In addition to Hajrizi—who had a history of escaping from Kosovo prisons—another prisoner, Ujkan Metaj, also escaped in recent days in Kosovo.
Minister Haxhiu has said that it is not certain whether Hajrizi was killed and if so, whether the act took place in Serbia or in Republika Srpska of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“The information these days has been contradictory, so we cannot be sure if he is indeed killed and if so, whether he was killed in Serbian territory or Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including other important and necessary details for the investigation. A thorough and deep investigation is necessarily required to uncover the truth of this case,” she wrote.
Haxhiu also condemned the Serbian Government’s use of ethnicity in the case of the Serbian police officer’s murder.
“This rhetoric of the Government in Belgrade is a warning for future events concocted in Belgrade that have a clear chauvinistic and ethno-political perspective.”
Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, has also called for the depoliticization of the case.
