A communication obtained by the Special Prosecution through covert measures reveals the conversation Fatmir Sheholli and journalist Milaim Zeka had on September 30, in the parking lot of a restaurant in Pristina.
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The audio recording captures the moment Sheholli hands Zeka €1,000. According to the Prosecution’s allegations, the money was part of a €5,000 sum that Sheholli is suspected of having received from the Serbian intelligence service, BIA, in northern Mitrovica.
The Prosecution suspects that the €1,000 payment was given to the journalist in exchange for publishing material allegedly prepared by the Serbian BIA. The incident occurred in September of last year, Paparaci reports.
Fatmir Sheholli: Mil..
Milaim Zeka: He..
Fatmir Sheholli: Here are the thousand.
Milaim Zeka: Come on, come on.
Fatmir Sheholli: Here, call me later when you publish the other one.
Milaim Zeka: If anyone gives you trouble, call me.
Fatmir Sheholli: Yes, yes, call me—hey, send me that one when you… come on, my dear.
The Special Prosecution’s case file states that earlier that same day, Sheholli had also given Zeka the materials that were to be published. They were in a “blue folder” and were handed over inside the restaurant where the two had met.
The material contained an audio recording involving officials from the Ministry for Communities and Return, including Minister Nenad Rashiq. According to the Prosecution, the Serbian BIA’s aim was to influence Kosovo’s local elections through the publication.
The case file states that the meeting between defendant Fatmir Sheholli and journalist Milaim Zeka supports the well-founded suspicion that the materials were obtained from the BIA, specifically from Bojan Dimic. According to the Prosecution, this was also confirmed through special investigative measures.
The prosecution claims that Sheholli acted according to an organized plan, with the aim of pressuring and blackmailing Nenad Rashiq and his officials. For this purpose, he allegedly handed the materials to Zeka for publication, while the journalist accepted €1,000 in return.
According to the description in the investigative file, Sheholli traveled in his “Audi A3,” with license plates 01-325-AO, and stopped in the “Lakrishte” neighborhood, near NLB Bank, where he printed several documents. He then continued toward the “Garden” restaurant in the “Emshir” neighborhood, where he met Milaim Zeka and handed him the printed material together with one thousand (€1,000).
The Prosecution emphasizes that the handover of the money can also be heard in a recording made while covert monitoring of conversations in private places was being carried out, using a device that had been placed in the suspect’s vehicle.
During testimony given to the Prosecution, Milaim Zeka admitted that the publication of the materials had been agreed upon in exchange for a payment of €2,000. However, he stated that, according to Fatmir Sheholli, the funds had been allocated by the German organization GIZ.
Zeka explained that the agreement, always based on what Sheholli had told him, provided for €2,000 from the German GIZ for the publication. Of that amount, he received €1,000 during the meeting at “Garden,” while the remaining €1,000 was to be given to him after the publication was completed; according to him, it has still not been handed over.
The plan that the Prosecution attributes to the BIA was carried out on September 30. After receiving the money from Fatmir Sheholli, Milaim Zeka published on the “PaRrotlla” portal the audio recordings presented as compromising for Nenad Rashiq and officials of the Ministry for Communities and Return.
The Special Prosecution has charged Fatmir Sheholli with espionage on behalf of the Serbian BIA and with blackmail.
