Kosovo: Prosecutor Accused of Accepting Bribes to Release Seized Vehicles

Published: 25 August 2015

Vahide Badivuku

By Igor Spaic

A prosecutor in Kosovo who allegedly accepted bribes has been taken into pre-trial detention.

Kosovan investigators suspect that Vahide Badivuku, a prosecutor at the Department of Serious Crimes Prosecutor's Office in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, accepted € 22,000 (US$25,245) in return for releasing several vehicles seized during a case she was investigating.

Authorities arrested Badivuku at a bus station at the north-eastern Merdare border crossing into Serbia early Monday.

She was reportedly heading for Austria carrying € 5,000 (US$ 5,732), believed by prosecutors to be a chunk of the bribe money.

Two alleged accomplices have also been arrested. Authorities say one more suspect is still on the run.

Badivuku and the two arrested suspects may now be held by police for a 30-day period, pending investigations.