By: Sara Bertoncelj (Nova24tv)
The Democratic League of Kosovo party (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës – LDK) has filed a criminal charge against Kosovo’s Ambassador to Croatia, Martin Berishaj, for making false statements before the Commission of Inquiry of the National Assembly of Kosovo. “This is a very serious and dangerous case, and very few people dare to speak about it on camera,” said Nova24TV’s Director, Boris Tomašič, who went to Priština, where he and his team are on the trail of suspicious transactions of the Gen-I energy company. He asked the MPs of the New Slovenia party (Nova Slovenija – NSi) to sign the request for an investigation in Slovenia. Will they respond?
“The Kosovo National Assembly had set up two Commissions of Inquiry to investigate the suspicious dealings of the Gen-I energy company, which happened back when Robert Golob was still the company’s President of the Management Board. Why has the Slovenian National Assembly not yet set up a commission of inquiry?” Boris Tomašič tweeted from Priština, reporting that his interlocutors in Kosovo say there is a much bigger story behind all of this than just the money transfers to Martin Berishaj. “The Commission of Inquiry here does not have the possibility to examine all the money transfers from Gen-I. That is why I was told to publicly ask the MPs of the New Slovenia party to sign the request for an investigation in Slovenia,” he wrote and asked the NSi MPs to help make the investigation in the National Assembly a reality.
“Another significant thing to note is that the police neither in Slovenia nor abroad have shown any interest in taking a closer look at Gen-I’s contracts. The question is what kind of directions the prosecutor is giving to the police,” former Director-General of the Slovenian Police, Dr Anton Olaj, tweeted after a recent episode of the show Tarča (Target) in which the Kosovo investigation was presented, and former Interior Minister Aleš Hojs also spoke out, writing that Tarča’s reporters at Radio-Television Slovenia were not even able to find the right address in Priština, so how could we expect them to investigate where millions of euros have gone. “But they have uncovered the most important thing about these million-euro transactions: the Gen-I branch in Belgrade does not have a signboard on its office building. Even Klaudijo Stroligo found this to be crucial,” he remarked (sarcastically).
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Robert Golob refused to attend the recent episode of the show Tarča, where he could have explained what the purpose of the transactions in question was, or where the money that Berishaj had been diligently withdrawing from his company’s account – and, according to some information, even taking back to Golob – had gone. At the beginning of the show, the current Gen-I’s President of the Management Board, Maks Helbl, said that they had been waiting for an opportunity to clarify everything for some time. However, this time, too, he did not clarify anything, except that he was not allowed to disclose the subsidiary’s contracts. He did not even explain for what purpose Gen-I had credited its subsidiary in 2019 – according to some, bypassing the regulators. “Apparently, the Prime Minister Mr Golob did not dare come to the national television’s show Tarča to explain his million-euro dealings in Gen-I, but he had enough time for a friendly visit to the competition,” commented the Director of Television Slovenia, Uroš Urbanija, as Golob had appeared in a news programme of a commercial TV station, where he did not, of course, touch the controversial topic.
As we have already written, when it came to the choice of guests, the recent episode of the show Tarča was not one of the good ones – provided, of course, that they had any real desire to reveal anything. Tomašič, however, thinks that Tarča was worth its weight in gold, despite the poor choice of guests. “Even though they tried to clear Golob’s name, in reality, they admitted to a lot. I will explain everything on Monday on Nova24TV,” he announced, revealing why Zijad Bečirović, the Director of IFIMES, defended Golob so vigorously: “Martin Berishaj is one of the founders of IFIMES, which is run by Bečirović and funded by Gen-I. It’s all clear.” According to our information, Tomašič did not only find a letterbox in Priština, but recently he also came across some interesting information.
A criminal complaint has been filed against Berishaj
Meanwhile, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has filed a criminal complaint against Kosovo’s Ambassador to Croatia, Martin Berishaj, for making false statements to the Commission of Inquiry of the National Assembly of Kosovo. LDK MP Driton Selmanaj, who is also chair of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Kosovo government’s management of the energy crisis, said that Berishaj had been informed of the legal consequences a person may face if he makes a false statement. “We have filed a criminal complaint with the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo for the inaccurate and untruthful testimony that Ambassador Martin Berishaj gave before this Commission on the 17th of November, when he was questioned by the Commission of Inquiry. In order to protect the dignity of the Kosovo Assembly, in order to protect the dignity of this Republic, we cannot tolerate a situation where the Ambassador comes and lies before the Commission,” said the MP, who stressed that they have submitted all the necessary documentation and are now waiting for the truth to be revealed.