Kosovo’s former infrastructure chief sentenced to prison for abusing post on road project spending

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A Kosovar court has sentenced a former infrastructure minister to more than 3 1/2 years in prison for abusing his position by overspending public funds on a road project. Three of his top aides were also ordered to serve time. The Pristina district court Wednesday sentenced former minister Pal Lekaj, 61, to three years and eight months for spending 53 million Euros ($57 million) to build the Arben Xhaferi highway in 2017 — an amount the court decided was too high. Lekaj was also prohibited from holding any public post for 3 1/2 years. The three aides were sentenced to terms ranging from one year and eight months to three years and three months. Lekaj says he’ll appeal.