VZCZCXRO5560
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHPS #1117/01 3621344
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281344Z DEC 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6878
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0974
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 001117 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE 
NSC FOR BRAUN 
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI 
EUR/ACE FOR DMAYHEW 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KDEM PGOV PINR PREL YI UNMIK EAID PHUM
SOCI 
SUBJECT: KOSOVO ASHKALI LEADERS THREATEN TO WITHDRAW FROM 
INSTITUTIONS 
 
REF: A. 2000 PRISTINA 4129 
 
     ¶B. 2000 PRISTINA 4371 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Pristina District Court sentenced 
Kosovo MP and President of the Ashkali Democratic Party of 
Kosovo (PDAK) Sabit Rrahmani to five months in prison for 
fraud.  Fellow PDAK party leaders do not deny the charges, 
but told us that Ashkali are being targeted for prosecution, 
and warned us that if Rrahmani goes to prison, members of the 
Ashkali community will withdraw from Kosovo institutions, 
withdraw their children from schools, and organize violent 
protests.  Although this is a hollow threat from a small and 
historically marginalized community, we urged these leaders 
not to contemplate extreme measures and to stay engaged with 
Kosovar institutions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  According to court documents, the Municipal Court 
in Ferizaj/Urosevac convicted Ashkali MP Sabit Rrahmani of 
fraud and imposed a fine of 400 euros in June 2004.  (NOTE. 
Ashkali are an Albanian-speaking ethnic minority often 
grouped together here with Roma and Egyptians.  END NOTE.) 
Arguing that the sentence was too lenient, given the 
aggravating circumstances in which Rrahmani abused the trust 
placed in him as a public official by members of his 
community, the Chief Municipal Prosecutor appealed the 
sentence in July 2004.  On November 9, 2006 the Pristina 
District Court sustained the appeal and imposed an aggregated 
sentence of five months imprisonment.  According to court 
documents, Rrahmani did not exercise his right to appeal the 
previous decisions, but he still has the right to submit an 
extraordinary appeal to the Supreme Court.  This was not 
Rrahmani's first brush with the law -- fellow Ashkali accused 
him of embezzlement as far back as 2000 (Ref A). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On December 15, three leaders of Rrahmani's Ashkali 
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDAK) -- Avni Rama, Gzim Rama and 
Qerim Gara -- urged USOP to take action to prevent Kosovo 
authorities from enforcing the prison sentence, which was 
scheduled to begin on December 27.  They did not deny that 
Rrahmani committed the crimes, but insisted that he used the 
money to help his community.  Rama said that Rrahmani has the 
full support of his community, who, he said, are gathering 
funds to help him repay his 184,000 euro debt.  The party 
leaders warned that if Rrahmani goes to prison, the Ashkali 
community will withdraw from Kosovo institutions, take their 
children out of schools, organize violent protests and 
possibly leave Kosovo en masse.  They insisted that his 
community needs him in the Assembly to represent their 
interests during the upcoming crucial stage in the status 
process.  (NOTE.  Because his prison term will be less than 
six months, Rrahmani will not lose his position as an MP. END 
NOTE.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The party leaders also claimed that Rrahmani was 
denied his right to appeal, and argued that Kosovo Albanian 
leaders who have committed far greater crimes and stolen much 
larger amounts of money walk free, while their leader is 
targeted for prosecution because he is a minority.  They 
added that the police still have not solved the case in which 
four Ashkali were murdered, execution-style, in Skenderaj on 
November 8, 2000 (Ref B). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT.  USOP believes that the threat of violent 
protests from the Ashkali community is minimal, given that 
the community is small, widely dispersed, and the fraud 
victims are members of the community.  If the Ashkali did act 
on these threats, it is likely that no one outside their 
community would notice.  The fact that an MP has been 
prosecuted and convicted of fraud is a positive development. 
However, there is a strong perception among Kosovo's 
minorities that crimes against their communities often go 
unsolved, and that criminals in the majority community are 
 
PRISTINA 00001117  002 OF 002 
 
 
not prosecuted.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶6.  (U)  Post clears this message in its entirety for release 
to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. 
LASKARIS