With one vote in favor and five against, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) rejected the appeal of State Chief Prosecutor candidate Atdhe Dema.

Dema had filed an appeal with the KPC, alleging violations of legal provisions in procedural and substantive aspects, as well as inconsistencies between the score awarded and the reasoning provided by the Evaluation Panel.

He requested that the appeal be approved as grounded and that the Evaluation Panel review his assessment, arguing that the evaluation of his interview and concept document was not based on concrete facts and sufficient reasoning.

During the review of the appeal, KPC Deputy Chairperson Dardan Vuniqi said Dema’s claims regarding a lack of justification were unfounded. According to him, the candidate did not provide evidence supporting his claims, and the appeal did not specify which part of the evaluation should be changed.

“I requested additional documents in the appeal, but I could not find the candidate’s interest in terms of what exactly he requested to be changed, because the right he sought has already been granted. I believe the discretion was exercised in accordance with the regulation. An appeal by a candidate must be supported by evidence. We accepted the appeal, I listened to the interviews, but we cannot proceed further if there is no legal interest regarding what needs to be changed, because the issue being challenged is a right that has already been granted. I stand by my argument that the same appeal should be rejected,” he said.

Vuniqi added that Dema’s appeal did not identify any procedural or substantive violations, but only expressed disagreement with the score he received.

During the discussion, KPC member Milot Krasniqi said the Council should assess the appeal solely based on the criteria and pillars established in the evaluation process.

Meanwhile, acting State Chief Prosecutor Agron Qalaj said it was important to understand to what extent the KPC had the ability to exercise effective oversight over the assessment conducted by the Evaluation Panel.

In the same meeting, the KPC unanimously approved, with six votes in favor, the authorization of KPC Secretariat Director Sami Istrefi to represent the Council before the Constitutional Court and submit comments regarding the notification from the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo.