Naser Keljmendi acquitted of murder of Ramiz Delalić Ćele

KOSOVO, (Patria) - The Basic Court in Pristina found Naser Keljmendi guilty of illegal possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison.

He was acquitted on all other counts, including the count of organized crime linked to the murder of Ramiz Delalić.

The time spent in detention from 2013 to 2017 will be credited toward the sentence.

The verdict was delivered after a three-year trial and the examination of 80 witnesses over as many as 130 hearings.

He was charged with organized crime, aggravated murder, and trafficking, possession, resale, and procurement of large quantities of narcotics.

The trial of Naser Keljmendi began in 2015, and since June of last year, he has been defending himself from freedom.

The Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo at the Basic Court in Pristina filed an indictment in July 2014 against the accused Naser Keljmendi. He was charged with several criminal offenses, including "organized crime, managing an organized criminal group, and the aggravated murder of Ramiz Delalić in Sarajevo in 2007."

Although the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested his extradition, this did not happen because, under Kosovan law, a citizen of Kosovo cannot be extradited to any country that does not recognize the state of Kosovo and with which Kosovo has no international extradition agreement, Tanjug reports.

At his first appearance before the court, Naser Keljmendi rejected all charges against him, deeming them politically motivated because he was "a sponsor of politicians who are not in power today."

The prosecution labeled Keljmendi as the leader of a criminal and organized group. At the start of the trial, Keljmendi pleaded not guilty to all counts of the indictment.

The Agency for Investigation and Protection of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as early as 2008, in its presentation to Interpol, stated that Keljmendi's criminal organization was involved in drug, cigarette, and oil smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, and usury. The same is stated in the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.