Murder in Dumnica, the accused says he found out about the victim's murder through portals
The accused of aiding and abetting the murder of SS, Ilaz Salihu, has given his defense before the Basic Court in Pristina, stating that he had learned about the murder of the now deceased through portals.
In this case, Besnik Salihu is accused of the murder of SS in March 2023 in Dumnica, Podujevo, and of illegal possession of weapons, while Ilaz Salihu is accused of aiding and abetting the murder, reports "Betimi për Drejësi".
Asked how he found out about the murder of the now deceased, the accused Salihu stated that he found out through the portals when he saw the initials of the now deceased SS. "I found out through the portals," Salihu stated.
The accused Salihu emphasized that it is a ten-minute walk from his house to the place where the deceased was killed, and added that he heard the explosion because, according to him, he was in the basement of the house at that moment.
"I was entering the basement of the house, I heard a crash, I got up and went towards Rexhov, and when I returned, I went back to my house because they said someone had been killed," said the accused.
The defense attorney of the accused Besnik Salihu, lawyer Nasuf Hasani, proposed that the father of the two accused Salihu, AS, be heard as a witness, a proposal which his client opposed.
In this regard, the panel of judges presided over by Judge Alban Ajvazi issued a ruling rejecting the proposal of attorney Hasani, on the grounds that, according to the Court's assessment, the proposed witness does not prove a certain issue, while regarding this ruling, the parties will receive a more extensive reasoning when drafting the judgment.
Lawyer Hasani stated that after the proposal was made, his client approached him saying that he was prolonging the court process and for these reasons he stated that he was withdrawing from defending the accused Salihu.
Under these circumstances, the trial panel issued a ruling suspending today's session, while at the request of the accused Salihu, this Court will engage an ex officio lawyer for the next session.
According to the indictment, on March 26, 2023, at around 18:08 p.m., in the village of Dumincë e Epërme, Podujevo Municipality, after a dispute between the accused Besnik Salihu and the now deceased SS, the accused cunningly and unexpectedly approached the deceased SS with the intention of taking his life.
The indictment states that the accused had fired a gun, shooting the now deceased SS twice in the head - once with a pistol on the left side of the head and once with a long gun under the chin, causing massive external cerebral bleeding, and due to the wounds received from the bullets fired to the head, the now deceased SS died at the scene, after which the accused Besnik left the scene.
By these actions, the defendant Besnik Salihu committed the criminal offense of “Aggravated Murder”, pursuant to Article 173, paragraph 1, item 14 of the Criminal Code of Kosovo. Furthermore, the indictment states that the defendant Besnik, on the date, time and place described in the first provision of this indictment, without authorization and in violation of the law on weapons, possessed a revolver and a long weapon, with which he committed the criminal offense mentioned above.
The same person is also charged with committing the criminal offense of "Unauthorized ownership, control or possession of weapons", according to Article 366, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.
The indictment also states that the defendant Ilaz Salihu, in the place, time and manner described in the first provision of this indictment, intentionally helped his brother, the defendant Besnik, by promising him that he would hide evidence of the commission of the criminal offense.
With this, the defendant Ilaz Salihu committed the criminal offense of "Assisting in aggravated murder", pursuant to Article 173, paragraph 1, item 14, in conjunction with Article 3 of the CCRK.
