During the exercise of their duties as lawyers, the President of the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates, Besnik R. Berisha, and the Vice President, Naim Rudari, on several occasions and in several Kosovo Police facilities, have noticed recording devices that appear to be homemade cameras, placed in spaces where confidential interviews and consultations between lawyers and parties take place.
This is stated in the announcement of the Kosovo Bar Association, addressed to lawyers in Kosovo.
According to a post on the social network Facebook, this situation is a risk to standards of confidentiality and procedural rights.
"Considering this situation as a direct risk to standards of confidentiality and procedural rights, the Kosovo Bar Association has immediately taken institutional action and requested official clarification from the Kosovo Police."
The announcement further states that in its response, the Police announced that the devices:
- They were installed about three years ago as part of an official project for audio/video systems in interview rooms;
- They do not constitute secret, illegal or investigative staff-managed devices;
- They have not been functionalized and have not generated any recordings;
- They were established within the framework of a project coordinated with the competent institutions.
However, as stated in the announcement, the Chamber of Advocates assesses that the presence of devices that appear to be homemade cameras, without visible identifying marks, without technical signaling and without prior notice, creates justified uncertainty and conflicts with the confidentiality standards that guarantee the practice of the legal profession.
"For this reason, the KCA calls on all lawyers to be extremely vigilant and not to conduct confidential consultations in spaces where there is doubt about the technical security or privacy of the conversation, regardless of the response provided by the police."
The Kosovo Bar Association further emphasizes that it remains committed to protecting the professional standards of lawyers, the procedural rights of the parties, and ensuring secure and unchanging conditions of confidentiality in all interviewing spaces. /Telegrafi/
