Krasniqi and his fellow defense lawyers were interrupted several times by the judge, Beqir Kalludra, demanding legal arguments and not “political” speeches.

“There isn’t anything one isn’t prepared to do for money nowadays,” responded special prosecutor Islami, alluding to the defense lawyers who, he suggested, were accusing him of filing a political indictment without any basis just because they are paid by the defendants to do so.

Ultimately, the judge suggested that the defense lawyers had no legal argument to back up their demand, but referred the issue to the chief state prosecutor, who is the person with the legal authority to decide if a prosecutor should be removed from a case.

The four opposition party activists, who will remain under house arrest until at least the end of February, confirmed in the session that they will use their right to speak during court sessions to defend themselves.

The indictment

While the charges were not read in court yesterday as had been anticipated, K2.0 has obtained a copy of the 13-page indictment, in which the four accused are charged with terrorism; it is an offense that carries sentences of up to 30 years imprisonment. “Acting as a group and with separate roles from mid-July 2016,” the activists are accused of having prepared and planned “preparatory acts” towards attacking the Kosovo Assembly on August 4 last year.

The indictment reads: “The defendants have committed the criminal offense of ‘committing a terrorist offense’ under Article 136, paragraph 1 [which states that anyone convicted of terrorism will receive a minimum of 5 years in prison], in conjunction with Article 135 paragraph 1.7 [causing a general danger] and Article 31 [Co-perpetration] of the Criminal Code.”

According to the special prosecutor, this act was committed by the accused with the aim of instilling fear into citizens and to force the Assembly into rejecting the ratification of Kosovo’s border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, an agreement against which Vetevendosje has organized several protests.

The indictment, which does not include information on which of the accused is alleged to have launched the rocket-propelled grenade at the Assembly building, lists amongst the evidence the statements of nine witnesses as well as surveillance transcripts. Specifically, the indictment mentions “registration of phone calls, content of SMSs, legal transcripts, as well as the Court Order of 29.02.2016… .”

The date of the court order for covert actions suggests that one or more of the accused were under secret surveillance measures 6 months prior to the August 4 attack. However when K2.0 asked the special prosecutor to confirm this, he said that it may be a “technical error” and that no covert measures were taken against the accused before the attack took place.

Frasher Krasniq. Courtesy of VETEVENDOSJE! Vetevendosje’s spokesperson, Frasher Krasniqi, is one of four opposition activists accused of terrorism over a grenade attack on Kosovo’s Assembly building. Photo courtesy of Vetevendosje.

One of the primary pieces of wiretapping information included in the indictment, is a covertly recorded phone conversation between Krasniqi, and an individual who has yet to be identified. In the conversation on August 25, 2016, the unidentified individual asks Krasniqi if he is “free” (not in custody) and accuses him of throwing a grenade at Kosovo’s public broadcaster, RTK, in a separate attack on August 23. “Don’t throw those kind of things, don’t create unnecessary trouble,” he said, to which Krasniqi replied: “Hey, hey. These are serious accusations… we throw only words at RTK, as for those…,” at which point the evidence transcript ends.

According to the special prosecution, the conversation is one of 2,092 phone calls involving Krasniqi between the beginning of their surveillance following the attack, and the filing of the indictment against him on December 28; all these phone calls, the indictment claims, were made with the aim of creating an alibi for Krasniqi and others.

Gathering the evidence

The starting point of the initial investigation was a semi-burnt out motorbike found in the Tauk Bahce neighborhood of Prishtina on the night of the Assembly attack; the motorbike had been used to launch the rocket propelled grenade from at the Assembly building, and for the attackers to get away.

The bike led police to the man who had sold the motorbike on the website ‘merr-jep.com.’ This person described to police three young men presenting themselves as students who had bought the bike from him — according to the indictment, the three people described were Atdhe Arifi, Egzon Haliti and the now deceased Astrit Dehari.

Surveillance included as evidence against Vetvendosje activists

Initial blows traded in tense court session.

Astrit Dehari

Leonora Aliu

Surveillance included as evidence against Vetvendosje activists

Initial blows traded in tense court session.

Astrit Dehari

Leonora Aliu