The High Prosecutorial Council was embroiled in debates during Monday's plenary meeting regarding how the 2026 budget would be spent, but also dissatisfaction related to leadership.
Taking issue with the decision of the chairwoman of the KLP, Mirela Bogdani, not to include in the budget the repayment of obligations arising from a final court decision, prosecutor Sokol Stojani harshly criticized the way Bogdani was leading the Council and the priorities set by it.
Stojani accused Bogdani of exerting pressure on the Finance Chief to prevent the implementation of the Court's decision on compensation for the former Secretary General. He also said that an email of his had gone unanswered, while he was informed that the priority would be salaries and the organization of some training.
"Oh my God! The salary guarantee wasn't even discussed in '97! Not even in '97! This is the vision," Stojani asked in the audio-documented discussion on the KLP website.
"Then it says we'll make predictions for 15 'retreats'..., 15? What are we, a travel agency? How will this turn into KLP Travel?", he added.
According to him, budget planning is a problem of the Council and that there have been actions by the mayors to obstruct and challenge the Council. According to him, Bodani fails to perceive elementary things. "The task must be done based on the law," said Stojani.
The Chairwoman of the KLP, Mirela Bogdani, did not respond to Stojani on the issues he raised.
Asked by BIRN about the allegations, Bogdani said that the Council has already cultivated the practice of discussion among members and sharing concerns and opinions on every issue.
"The discussions reflected in the media are part of the debates and optics of each of the members, which must be within the rules of ethical and professional communication. Everyone is free to comment on every detail of the budget and vote for or against," Bogdani said through a message on the Whatsapp application.
Bogdani explained that the retreats were proposed to train staff and develop discussion processes for a long list of legally binding regulations, within the framework of the integration processes in the European Union. According to her, these meetings are also intended as forums for exchanging experiences with heads of prosecution offices or other prosecutors in the system on issues of ethical-professional assessment, communication with the media and the public, ethics, etc.
"The KLP is a relatively new institution and the staff or members will have to participate in professional activities, even with homologous institutions. So far, some of the activities have been financially covered by the EU4Justice project or other donors, but once they finish their engagement, we will have to organize these activities ourselves and this starts with the budget forecast, according to the Council of Ministers that specifies the allowance quotas, which as you may be aware are minimal and not indexed to market prices", said Bogdani, adding that these are forecasts that will have to be approved by the Ministry of Finance and the Parliament.
Regarding the accusations raised by Stojani for influence in the finance office, Bogdani emphasized that it is about discussions with them and her repeated request to accurately calculate the obligation to pay the salary and social security for the former secretary general, who, according to the decision of the Court of Appeal, will have to be paid her salary until she returns to work.
"In its entirety, the session had the typical characteristics of discussions of a collegial body, where debates and different opinions are expected. My position, in the capacity of the head of the institution, remains the respect for the law and professional integrity in the exercise of duty with dedication by every employee, at every level, to then demand the same approach from third parties," Bogdani concluded./BIRN
