Eight months after the arrest of Bedri Shabani and Muharrem Qerimi, the Special Prosecution of Kosovo has filed charges accusing them of the crime of “Espionage,” stating that, according to collected evidence, they allegedly sent sensitive security information about Kosovo to Serbia’s BIA.
The trial has now begun, and all case documents have been handed over to the parties, including defense lawyers.
Betim Shala, the lawyer for Muharrem Qerimi, stated on Klan Kosova’s Rubikon that, according to the documents at his disposal, he does not see any disruption of the constitutional order, as mentioned in the indictment.
Moreover, Shala claims that the case files do not contain any classified documents, which, according to him, does not prove that his client has committed the act of espionage.
“If the court does not have the evidence as required by the Criminal Procedure Code, then the accused has influenced the security of that information. When the indictment is raised, the court must prove, based on that evidence, whether the criminal act has been committed or whether the elements of the alleged act have been met. From the evidence I have seen in the indictment and the evidence provided by the prosecution, I have not seen anywhere that a document is classified as state secret, industrial secret, etc.”
“If [Qerimi] has worked and secured information and was paid for those pieces of information, whether they are secret or not, then we have incriminating actions for espionage. But I am focusing on the evidence that the prosecution is aiming to prove the commission of the espionage crime. For espionage to occur, there needs to be a classified document,” said lawyer Shala. /klankosova.tv
