Flash News

Kosova

Elections in Kosovo/ Thousands of euros in fines for violating the Code of Conduct during the campaign

Elections in Kosovo/ Thousands of euros in fines for violating the Code of

The Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) has issued its first fines for violations of the Code of Conduct five days after the campaign for the February 9 elections opened. The ECAP has fined the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Self-Determination Movement (LVV) thousands of euros.

The LDK was fined 20,000 euros on January 15 for hate speech after its candidate for MP, Xheneta Syka, published a video on her Facebook account comparing Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of the LVV to Adolf Hitler.

The ECAP said that its investigative panel found that with the aim of labeling LVV and promoting LDK, Syka has incited "hatred" towards Prime Minister Kurti's party.

She said that by doing so, the LDK has violated Article 34 of the Law on Elections, which prohibits political parties, candidates and their supporters from using hate speech – which may incite or provoke another person to commit acts of violence against others – as well as the use of photographs, symbols and other materials that have or may have such an impact.

This decision followed the complaint that LVV had filed with the ECAP, a body that ordered the LDK to pay the fine within a period of 15 days.

The ECAP also fined the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) 12,000 euros on January 15, following a complaint by the Vetëvendosje Movement that AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj had made unfounded and unsubstantiated accusations against Prime Minister Kurti, as had AAK's candidate for MP, Ardian Gjini.

The panel said that Haradinaj and Gjini have incited "hatred" against Prime Minister Kurti by using denigrating and hateful language, after saying that "we must remove the deceiver" and that "we no longer want games with national security behind the backs of our allies and in the interests of Serbia and Russia at their expense."

The ECAP also fined the Vetevendosje Movement 3,000 euros for violating the Law on Elections, following a complaint by the LDK. In a press release, the ECAP said that the Vetevendosje Movement’s candidate for prime minister in the February 9 elections, Albin Kurti, used offensive and derogatory language “inciting hatred” against the Democratic League of Kosovo during an election rally in Peja on January 13.

Fined parties have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court regarding ECAP decisions.

Flutura Kusari, legal advisor at the European Center for Press and Media Freedom, said on Thursday that the ECAP decisions will create a kind of precedent and standard for the future in the field of political expression.

"No politician in Kosovo should be compared in any way to Hitler. This comparison and this expression is not freedom of expression, it is an abuse of freedom of expression," she wrote in a post on the social network Facebook.

In the parliamentary elections on February 9 in Kosovo, 28 political entities with a total of 1,280 candidates will compete.

More than 2 million people inside and outside Kosovo have the right to vote in these elections.

On the ballot, voters will be able to choose one political entity and up to ten candidates for deputies. This is a change after the adoption of the new Law on Elections. In the past, citizens had the opportunity to choose up to five candidates.

Each certified party can have up to 110 candidates on the electoral list.

From these lists, the new composition of the 120-seat Parliament will be elected and the MPs will then elect the new Government. The current government in Kosovo is led by Albin Kurti, leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement.

The election campaign began on January 11th, and for a month, parties and candidates will try to convince voters to elect them.

These will be the first regular elections that Kosovo has held since declaring independence in 2008./ REL

Latest news