The first indictment by the Special Prosecution of Kosovo for espionage has passed its initial legal test. The Basic Court in Prishtina has confirmed the grounded suspicion that Bedri Shabani and Muharrem Qerimi committed the criminal offense of espionage. According to the court ruling, there is also a well-founded suspicion that Sërgjan Rosiqi is an agent of Serbia’s Security and Intelligence Agency (BIA), despite the defense’s claims that Qerimi merely engaged in private communication and shared no classified state secrets.
In its ruling issued on April 30, the court concluded that there is sufficient preliminary evidence indicating that Shabani and Qerimi acted as operatives for the Serbian BIA.
Qerimi’s lawyer, Betim Shala, argued that his client cannot be accused of espionage if no classified information was disclosed. However, the court ruled that at this stage of the proceedings, the prosecution’s assessment is valid.
The court referred to a provision of the Criminal Code that does not require the transmitted information to be classified in order to qualify as espionage.
“With regard to the collection of information, from the evidence listed above, and those attached to the indictment, it is evident that the defendant gathered information on issues of state importance, including public officials, and there is strong suspicion that this information was then transmitted to BIA officials. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that the defendant Muharrem fulfilled the elements of this offense,” the ruling states.
The same applies to Bedri Shabani, for whom the court also found a well-grounded suspicion that he provided information of national significance to Serbia’s BIA.
Shabani’s defense argued that there is no definitive proof that Sërgjan Rosiqi, with whom Shabani allegedly communicated, is an official of the Serbian intelligence service. However, the court believes the evidence indicates Rosiqi is indeed part of the BIA.
“… the court assesses that from the above-mentioned evidence and the documents attached to the indictment, there is a well-grounded suspicion that Sërgjan Rosiqi is a member of Serbia’s BIA,” the ruling notes.
According to the prosecution, Shabani also had contact with another BIA official, Bogolub Janičević, who played a leading role in the Reçak massacre as a member of the Serbian police forces.
Shabani’s lawyer, Besnik Berisha, claimed that his client was unlawfully wiretapped, but the first-instance court assessed that the Special Prosecution collected the evidence legally, and further evaluation should occur during the trial.
Alongside Muharrem Qerimi and Bedri Shabani, three additional individuals suspected of being Serbian spies remain in pre-trial detention.
