Spying case against OSCE official, Appeal declares findings on her phone admissible evidence

The Kosovo Court of Appeals, with its decision of January 20, 2026, decided to approve the appeal of the Special Prosecution against the accused of espionage, Jelena Djukanović, thus changing the decision of the Basic Court, considering the findings on the accused's phone as admissible evidence.

The Special Prosecution has filed an appeal against the Basic Court's decision, requesting that the ruling be changed, while Djukanovic's defense attorney, attorney Predrag Miljkovic, has proposed that this decision be upheld.

Meanwhile, the Appellate Prosecution has proposed, just like the Special Prosecution, that the evidence obtained from Djukanovic's phone be accepted as admissible evidence.

According to the Appeals Court's decision, the prosecution's appeal claims are well-founded, due to the fact that the first instance court erroneously concluded that this evidence should be declared inadmissible.

The appeal emphasized in the decision that the first instance erroneously concluded that the evidence obtained from the examination of these devices is in violation of Articles 103 and 251 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kosovo (CPRK), respectively, that it is inadmissible.

The appeal found that Article 103 was incorrectly interpreted by the first instance due to the fact that in the specific case the search of the defendant's house-apartment was carried out with a verbal order-permission from the prosecution, which later requested confirmation of the order, and for this search it received retroactive confirmation from the court regarding the legitimacy of the search and the evidence obtained during it.

This confirmation was made by the pre-trial judge in accordance with Article 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for the reasons for the control set out in Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The appeal found that in the specific case the search and seizure was confirmed by retroactive confirmation of the court, namely by the ruling dated 03.03.2025, where decisively the evidence obtained during the search, including electronic devices (mobile phones), were obtained-seized based on a court decision-order for retroactive confirmation.

According to the Appeal, Article 103 of the CPCRC refers to (regulates) the control and seizure of specified evidence and property, but does not regulate the examination of the content of electronic evidence, namely telephone equipment.

According to the Appeal, Article 145 paragraph 2 of the CPC was incorrectly applied by the first instance, as it gave the prosecutor the right to authorize the police or an expert to examine, analyze and search for information or data within computer equipment, electronic storage devices or similar devices, which also means analyzing the telephone equipment seized from the accused Djukanović.

Regarding Article 36 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, according to the Appeal, in the specific case, the examination of computer equipment, electronic equipment and similar devices is regulated by the provisions of Article 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and that the law does not contain any legal loophole in relation to this examination, namely the examination of electronic equipment, including mobile phones.

Therefore, the Criminal Panel of the Court of Appeals of Kosovo also assesses that in the specific case relevant to this stage of the procedure is that the evidence is admissible and obtained in accordance with legal provisions, the accusation is based on substantially supportable evidence and there are no circumstances for filing an indictment.

The panel of judges that made the decision has the following composition: Valon Kurtaj - president of the panel, Afërdita Bytyçi and Ferit Osmani, members of the panel

The accused Djukanovic pleaded not guilty on September 16, 2025.

Otherwise, the Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo (SPRK) on September 2, 2025 filed an indictment against Jelena Djukanović, who is charged with having, from an unspecified date and continuously until the moment of her arrest, on February 28, 2025, in her capacity as a local official of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, at the Regional Office in Mitrovica, in the position of "National Program Officer at the Regional Center in Mitrovica", with full knowledge and direct intent, repeatedly committed acts that constitute active assistance to the intelligence activity of the Intelligence and Security Agency of the Republic of Serbia (known as BIA), by providing sensitive data, documents and information, obtained during the exercise of her official duty within the framework of the activity of the OSCE mission, this assistance being carried out through numerous communications with the now convicted criminal offense of espionage, the resident agent of the BIA, Aleksandar Vllajic.

The indictment states that Djukanovic forwarded to Vllajic documented information directly related to the constitutional order, institutional security and internal activities of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, which information was then transmitted to senior BIA officials, to the BIA head for the Novi Pazar region in Serbia and to the BIA in Belgrade.

According to the indictment, the accused, through her influence and influence, from the position she held in the OSCE and the instructions she received from the now convicted spy Aleksandër Vllajić and BIA officials, during official meetings and the compilation of OSCE reports, for the reflection of the political and security situation in Kosovo, has contributed to the creation of a hostile narrative towards the security institutions, statehood and integrity of the Republic of Kosovo, thus through these deliberate actions, the accused has seriously violated the constitutional order and national security and has seriously endangered the lives and personal safety of state officials, citizens of the country, as well as international personnel of the OSCE mission in Kosovo.

With this, the accused Jelena Djukanović is accused of having committed the criminal offense of "Espionage" under Article 124, paragraph 3 in conjunction with Article 77 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization that deals with security, democracy and human rights, which through its mission has an official presence and headquarters in Kosovo.