Sveçla’s Defense Challenges Guilty Verdict, Calls Court Decision Unusual

The defense of Xhelal Sveçla, Kosovo’s acting Minister of Internal Affairs, has challenged the decision of the Basic Court in Pristina, describing it as unusual.

His lawyer, Laur Prenaj, said he would file an appeal once he receives the full decision and the court’s reasoning.

The Basic Court in Pristina found Sveçla guilty of releasing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly in 2018.

Prenaj said the court had announced only the verdict, while its reasoning has yet to be published. According to him, this constitutes an unusual practice, and the defense will exercise its right to appeal once it has received the reasoned decision.

The lawyer also stressed that the indictment against Sveçla had contained problems from the initial stage of the proceedings.

He added that the defense is awaiting the court’s reasoning to understand the grounds on which the decision was made and the basis for the indictment, which, according to him, had already been challenged during the initial hearing.

The decision on Sveçla’s sentence is expected to be announced on September 8 at 9:00 a.m., when the next hearing in the case is scheduled.

A week earlier, the court acquitted the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, who had faced a similar indictment for releasing tear gas during an Assembly session in 2016.