The Basic Court in Pristina has postponed until September 25 the start of the retrial of Endrit Nika, who is accused of killing his Argentine partner, Maria Clara Urdangaray, in an incident that occurred in 2023.
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The postponement came at the request of lawyer Tomë Gashi, who said the hearing could not proceed because the appointed interpreter knows standard German but not the Swiss dialect used by the defendant.
Gashi requested that Nika be provided with an interpreter who understands the Swiss dialect of German, emphasizing that although written German is the same in Switzerland, Germany and other German-speaking countries, there are significant differences in everyday communication.
“I initially believe that the essential conditions for continuing with the trial have not been met because the court has failed to provide Endrit Nika with an adequate German-language interpreter. Written German is the same in Switzerland, Germany and other German-speaking countries, but the specifics of Switzerland, where Nika lived his entire life until three years ago and where he has been held in detention since then in connection with this case, are found in spoken language. The appointed interpreter is adequate and we have no objections to him, but he speaks differently from the written language. They speak differently and write differently,” Gashi said.
The presiding judge, Gazmend Bahtiri, announced after a recess that he had contacted the Kosovo Judicial Council regarding the matter.
According to Bahtiri, Fisnik Aliu, an official of the KJC, said that the council licenses interpreters for standard German, but does not provide licensing for Swiss German interpreters.
“The KJC was contacted, and official Fisnik Aliu informed the court that the KJC provides licensing for interpreters of standard German, but does not provide licensing for Swiss German interpreters. In this situation, I am asking the defendant whether he understood the interpreter who was also present at the previous trial and whether he needs another interpreter,” Bahtiri said.
When asked by the court, Nika replied that he wanted to communicate without obstacles in his own language.
“Yes, it is important for me to express myself freely in my own language,” Nika said.
Lawyer Gashi requested that all interpreters licensed by the KJC be contacted in order to identify whether any of them had lived in Switzerland.
“We are aware that the KJC has more than 50 interpreters, but for the retrial to be fair and for him to understand everything, the idea is to contact them and see which of them has lived in Switzerland,” the defense lawyer requested.
The next hearing has been scheduled for September 25 at 1 p.m., when Nika’s family members are expected to testify.
Endrit Nika had previously been found guilty by this court and sentenced to 18 years in prison for the criminal offense of “aggravated murder” of his partner, Maria Clara Urdangaray.
According to the documentary, Urdangaray died at around 4:27 a.m. on August 1, 2023, approximately three hours after she fell from the window of the sixth floor of the “Sonoma” hotel in Kosovo Polje. She had been staying at the hotel with her boyfriend, Endrit Nika.
The prosecution claims that, after being struck and pushed, the victim ended up in the corner of the room with no possibility of escape. Later, according to the indictment, the window frame detached and she fell outside.
Nika has pleaded not guilty.
