Bekim Jashari: I am also guilty if the two former airport officials are found guilty of misusing nearly 2 million euros

The witness Bekim Jashari has said that if the two former officials of the "Adem Jashari" Airport - Bahri Nuredini and Driton Mehaj - are found guilty, then he himself is also guilty.

Jashari gave this statement on Thursday as the former chairman of the Board of Directors at the Prishtina International Airport during the period 2008-2015 in the case where Nuredini and Mehaj are being accused of having committed the criminal offense of misuse of official position or authority, damaged the public budget of 1 million 937 thousand 230 euros.

"I think that if these people turn out to be guilty, I am also guilty," declared Jashari, who also held the position of the mayor of Skenderaj from 2017-2021.

Jashari has said that the court process seemed absurd to him from the beginning until he remembers the time when he told the investigating policemen that he feels bad that he did not give thanks to the management staff of that time for the work they did and the difficulties they had.

Tutje said that it seems easy, but they had extremely great difficulties, but still the reports were positive for the fact that they had functioned as a family.

In the end, he said that nowadays he is not as committed to his family as he was at that time, on the grounds that he had not worked for a salary but had a moral and national obligation.

The witness Jashari initially said that the accused Nuredini was his aunt's son, but the panel headed by judge Kujtim Krasniqi informed him that according to the law he is not exempted from testifying.

He said that he stands behind the statements previously given to the Police regarding this criminal case.

Meanwhile, regarding the 64th meeting of the Board on July 15, 2011, Jashari said that he did not remember exactly what was discussed, adding that everything that was found in the minutes of the Board meetings is behind.

Among other things, the witness Jashari has said that the Board and the rest of the management of the now so-called ASHNA that in the contract between the Government and "Limak" there are only 544 workers who will be transferred or "Limak" will be responsible for they had not known this detail until then.

Tutje said that it had been an extraordinary concern for the management officials of that time, but also a very difficult challenge for the Board as well, as it is possible for another 130 workers to be left out of the contract.

Among other things, the witness said that he had held informal talks with the Government of Kosovo and the Public-Private Partnership to find a solution for the 130 workers in ANP who were left out, as well as with the leaders of the "Limak" company.

The same witness Jashari said that he did not know about the year 2016, in that he was aware that on September 19, 2016, precisely because of the non-completion of the works, ASHN and the economic operator TCN had severed the contract for the realization of this project.

Then Thursday's session continued with the hearing of the witness Dhurata Hoxha said that during the time she was appointed as advisor to Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, she had participated in many inter-ministerial groups as a representative of the Prime Minister's Office, adding that she believed that she had was part of the interministerial steering committee.

The same said that she does not remember if she had participated in the meeting of this committee, but after looking at the minutes, she confirmed her participation on September 29, 2011.

Witness Hoxha said that she did not remember in detail what they had discussed, but that they had talked about the issues of "Limak" - the Airport and other projects.

According to the witness Hoxha, as far as she remembered, the procedure that was in force at that time, you had sent the agenda to each government group in advance, but according to the same, those points had been examined in the legal office of the relevant ministries.

According to the witness Hoxha, if there was any decision inconsistent with the law, the same would have asked to change the decision and asked to be made in accordance with the law, saying that if any point of the meeting was not complete documentation, the item on the agenda was postponed, but that precisely for point 5 he did not remember because a long time had passed.

Hoxha also said that it was a practice for the decisions to be given in written form, but that in relation to the case in question, he did not remember, adding that he was not aware and did not remember that that point had been the basic agreement of the Airport concession. which was connected in 2010 between the Government of Kosovo and "Limak".

In the end, she said that she does not remember exactly how the items on the agenda were voted.

The next hearing in this criminal case is expected to be held on Friday, October 13, 2023.

According to the indictment filed on May 11, 2022 by the Special Prosecutor's Office, Bahri Nuredini and Driton Mehaj are accused that in the period from September 2011 to August 2018 continuously in the capacity of officials at the International Airport of Pristina (ANP), then the Services Agency of Air Navigation Authority (AShNA) have misused their official duties, they have enabled EO "TCN International" Sh.PK from Tirana to benefit by awarding the contract for the procurement activity ANP/KM-11-47-111 illegally the tender "Supply of Systems of Navigation and Relocation of Existing Systems".

Further, according to the indictment, Nuredini as the chief executive officer of the Air Navigation Services Agency (AShNA) and Mehaj as the manager of the Contract for the Supply of Navigation Systems and Relocation of Existing Systems at AShNA, are accused of illegally and without prior authorization of the Interministerial Steering Committee (KDNM), have initiated and developed the procurement procedures, so that on September 8 and 9, through the Public Procurement Regulatory Commission (KRPP), they announced the winner of the tender EO "TCN International" Sh.PK, with a total value of 7 million 808 thousand 296 euros.

Whereas, it is stated in the indictment that the contract was signed on October 6, 2011, knowing that the "relocation of existing systems" was part of the contract "PPP-09-001-611 of August 12, 2010", concluded between KDNM- of the Public-Private Partnership Project (PPPP) and the company "LIMAK Kosova International Airport" JSC

Therefore, according to the indictment, the accused included the relocation of the existing systems in the new tender, even though this was a contractual obligation of the "LIMAK" company, while it is said that during the implementation of the project, they did not take protective measures against EO provided by law and contract, including the confiscation of the contract execution guarantee or the termination of the contract due to violations committed by EO "TCN International" Sh.PK

This is because, according to the indictment, the term of the contract was illegally extended from 523 days to 1 days, and it is said that even after the extension of this term, the contract was not completed, but it was terminated unilateral by this operator on September 700, 19, based on the fact that up to this date 2016% of the financial means had been paid out of the total value of 97 million 7 thousand 808 euros.

Meanwhile, it is said that AShNA had signed a contract with EO "Leonardo" from Italy for the activity with procurement number 254-18-7340-2-1-5 "Relocation and updating of APP/TÜR" for the performance of unfinished works. on August 31, 2018, in the amount of 386 thousand 180 euros, with which actions are said to have caused damage to the AShNA budget and the public budget in the amount of 1 million 937 thousand 230 euros.

With these actions, Nuredini and Mehaj are being accused of jointly and continuously committing the criminal offense of 'Misuse of official position or authority' from Article 422, paragraph 2, related to Article 81 and 31 of the Criminal Code, according to the sworn statement, Telegrafi informs.