Case of Man Accused of Killing Friend Over €77,000 Debt Sent for Retrial for the Third Time

The criminal case against Kreshnik Haliti will be tried again for the third time after the Court of Appeals upheld the defense’s appeal and annulled the judgment against him.

Haliti is accused of killing his friend M.Z. on March 6, 2017, on “Myrvete Maksutaj” Street in Peja, over a debt of €77,000.

The case files show that, during the second retrial, the Basic Court in Peja found Haliti guilty on December 1, 2025, and imposed an aggregate sentence of 19 years in prison.

The judgment was also challenged by the Basic Prosecution Office in Peja. Its appeal was based on claims of violations of the Criminal Code, the decision on the criminal sanction, and the section concerning procedural costs.

The Prosecution had asked the Court of Appeals to amend the Basic Court’s decision, find Haliti guilty of the criminal offense of “Aggravated Murder,” and impose a harsher sentence. Alternatively, based on the aggravating circumstances, it requested a sentence of 20 years in prison.

Regarding procedural costs, the Prosecution had proposed that they be determined precisely and presented in detail.

Attorney Gëzim Kollçaku, acting as the authorized representative of the injured party, had also appealed the sentencing decision. He likewise asked the Court of Appeals to amend the judgment and impose a harsher sentence on the defendant.

Meanwhile, Haliti’s defense attorney, Nushe Kuka-Mekaj, had appealed the decision on the grounds of substantial violations of criminal procedure provisions, violations of the Criminal Code, an erroneous and incomplete determination of the facts, and the sentencing decision.

Kuka-Mekaj had requested that the criminal offense be reclassified as “Murder Committed in a State of Severe Mental Distress” or that her client receive a more lenient sentence. If the judgment was not amended, the defense proposed that proceedings be opened before the Court of Appeals.

In a written submission, the Appellate Prosecution Office proposed that the appeals of the Basic Prosecution Office and the injured party be upheld, while the defense’s appeal be rejected.

Findings of the Court of Appeals

In its decision drafted on April 7, 2026, the Court of Appeals found that the Basic Court’s judgment contained substantial violations of criminal procedure provisions because it largely lacked clear reasoning concerning the decisive facts.

According to the second-instance court, the key facts in the case had been described extensively, but the witnesses’ testimony had not been properly analyzed.

“Such a generalized assessment is insufficient and unacceptable,” the Court of Appeals’ decision states.

The Court of Appeals also noted that the Basic Court had failed to assess contradictory evidence. This included discrepancies between expert evaluations addressing the defendant’s mental state.

The Court of Appeals did not examine the other claims raised in the appeals because it concluded that the first-instance judgment was marred by substantial violations of criminal procedure and therefore had to be annulled.

At the retrial, according to the Court of Appeals’ instructions, the Basic Court must act in accordance with the observations provided, remedy the substantial procedural violations, and draft the judgment in compliance with legal requirements.

The Basic Court was instructed to hear all the evidence again and, depending on the course of the proceedings, potentially obtain additional evidence that may be relevant to determining the facts.

The decision also requires that the retrial properly and clearly establish Haliti’s mental and psychological condition at the time the acts were committed. Since two expert evaluations reached opposing conclusions, the Court of Appeals also requested that a super-expert evaluation be ordered.

The Court of Appeals’ decision was issued by a judicial panel composed of presiding judge Skender Çoçaj and members Mentor Hajra and Arben Hoti.

In the initial trial, on July 4, 2018, the Basic Court in Peja found Kreshnik Haliti guilty and sentenced him to an aggregate term of 22 years and six months in prison.

That judgment was later annulled by the Court of Appeals on the grounds that it contained violations of criminal procedure and that the facts had not been fully established.

In the subsequent retrial, on October 31, 2023, the Basic Court in Peja imposed an aggregate sentence of 20 years and six months in prison on Haliti for the criminal offense of “Murder.”

However, on March 18, 2024, the Court of Appeals again sent the case back for retrial, upholding the appeals filed by the Basic Prosecution Office in Peja and Haliti’s defense attorney, Besnik Berisha.

In the second retrial, in its decision of December 12, 2025, the Basic Court sentenced the defendant to an aggregate term of 19 years in prison.