The Kosovo Court of Appeals on Friday reviewed appeals filed by the Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo (SPRK) and the defence against the first-instance judgment sentencing former OSCE official Jelena Đukanović to six years in prison for espionage on behalf of Serbia’s Security Intelligence Agency (BIA).
The SPRK appealed the ruling on grounds of an alleged violation of criminal law and asked the Court of Appeals to amend the judgment and impose a harsher sentence on Đukanović, according to Betimi për Drejtësi.
Đukanović’s defence lawyer, Predrag Milković, meanwhile, appealed on grounds of substantial violations of procedural provisions, an incorrectly established factual situation and incorrect application of substantive law. He requested that the first-instance judgment be annulled and that Đukanović be acquitted or that the case be remanded for a retrial.
Milković also argued that although the prosecution had lawfully seized Đukanović’s phones, it had not lawfully accessed their contents.
The Court of Appeals prosecutor supported the SPRK’s appeal, requesting that the first-instance judgment be amended with regard to the criminal sanction and that the defence appeal be rejected as unfounded.
The appellate panel was composed of Avni Mehmeti as presiding judge, Vaton Dërguti as reporting judge and Albina Shabani Rama as a member.
In a decision dated January 20, 2026, the Court of Appeals had previously approved the Special Prosecution’s appeal in the case and amended the first-instance ruling, finding the evidence obtained from Đukanović’s phone admissible.
The SPRK filed its indictment against Đukanović on September 2, 2025. Prosecutors alleged that, while serving as a local OSCE mission official at the Regional Centre in Mitrovica, she repeatedly and intentionally provided sensitive information, documents and data obtained through her official duties to Aleksandar Vlajić, who had been convicted of espionage and was identified by prosecutors as a resident BIA agent.
According to the indictment, the information allegedly concerned Kosovo’s constitutional order, institutional security and the internal activities of Kosovo institutions, and was subsequently transmitted to senior BIA officials, including officials responsible for the Novi Pazar region and BIA headquarters in Belgrade.
The prosecution further alleged that Đukanović used her position within the OSCE and acted on instructions from Vlajić and BIA officials during official meetings and while preparing OSCE reports concerning Kosovo’s political and security situation.
Prosecutors alleged that these actions contributed to what they described as a hostile narrative toward Kosovo’s security institutions, statehood and territorial integrity, and claimed that the conduct endangered national security as well as the safety of state officials, citizens and international OSCE personnel.
Đukanović was charged with espionage under Article 124, paragraph 3, in conjunction with Article 77 of Kosovo’s Criminal Code.
The case remains subject to appellate proceedings, with the Court of Appeals expected to rule on both the prosecution’s request for a harsher sentence and the defence’s request for acquittal or a retrial.
