Prosecution Seeks Pretrial Detention for Fehim Sali and Reveals Espionage Suspicions

The Special Prosecution Office of the Republic of Kosovo has asked the Basic Court in Pristina to order Fehim Sali into pretrial detention. He was arrested yesterday on suspicion of espionage.

The request states that Sali is a citizen of Kosovo of Serbian ethnicity and also holds Serbian citizenship.

The Special Prosecution Office alleges that there is a well-founded suspicion that Sali, acting intentionally and for material gain, was recruited by the Intelligence Service of the Republic of Serbia, known as the BIA. According to the Prosecution, he continuously assisted this foreign service by carrying out the orders and instructions of senior BIA official Zhelimir Matović, known by the nickname “Zheljko.”

The request alleges that Sali passed on information about political developments in Kosovo and identified officials of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), photographing them. He is also suspected of providing information about members of the Wahhabi sect and other individuals, whom he later proposed to the BIA official as potential targets for contact and recruitment.

Sali is also suspected of other actions contrary to the state interests of the Republic of Kosovo that undermine and harm the country’s constitutional order and national security.

In its request submitted to the Basic Court, the Special Prosecution Office maintains that through these actions, the defendant committed the criminal offense of “Espionage,” as defined in Article 124, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.