Kosovo Wiretaps Reveal Ruling Party Influenced Top Jobs

Adem Grabovici

The Pristina-based media website, Insajderi.com, on Monday released excerpts of allegedly wiretapped conversations of top officials from the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, which, according to the site, reveal the extent to which the PDK influenced appointments to senior positions in the government, justice, police and media.

The excerpts reveal parts of conversations between Adem Grabovci, head of the PDK’s parliamentary group, and the former PDK leader and current president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, as well as the current PDK leader, Kadri Veseli, and others.

Although the site does not explain the exact nature of these conversations, the media outlet claims the tapes show the PDK influenced the appointment of the several senior prosecutors and judges, as well as appointments to other positions.

“For me, what is important is whether the law was violated with the publication of these wiretaps… I will ask the respective institutions to verify the degree of legal violation,” Grabovci said in a telephone interview with TV Dukagjini, on Monday.

He did not deny however that the wiretaps were authentic.

Some of the conversations reportedly reveal the extent of international pressure to which Thaci was exposed on the approval of laws on the historic centre of Prizren and on the village of Velika Hoca. Regarding the latter, the excerpt reveals only Thaci’s order to Grabovci not to forward the law to parliament during his absence.

Insajderi.com says the wiretaps were made in November and December 2011. Questions remain over the source of the tapes and whether the wiretapping was a part of legal investigation into some of the officials, and thus obtained legally, or not.

Insajderi.com claims it is in possession of thousands of wiretapped phone conversations between Grabovci, Thaci and Veseli, as well as with other PDK and government officials, and has announced it will publish them in their entirety.