The Basic Court in Prishtina has temporarily suspended the initial hearing session for the 21 individuals accused in connection with the Reçak Massacre, due to some technical difficulties. This was announced by the Special Department of this court through an official statement.

The judicial process is taking place without the presence of the accused, who are facing charges of war crimes against civilians during the conflict in Kosovo. The list includes the names: Zllatomir Peshiq, Mlladen Cirkoviq, Radomir Markoviq, Dushko Adamoviq, Obrad Stevanoviq, Zhivko Trajkoviq, Goran Radosavleviq, Bogolub Janiçqviq, Sllavisha Ivanoviq, Boshko Vukiqeviq, Sreten Popoviq, Nikolla Petroviq, Kërsman Jellliq, Lubisha Stojimiroviq, Bozhidar Deliq, Radojko Stefanoviq, Dragan Zhivanoviq, Milosh Gjoshan, Lubinko Cvetiq, Bozhidar Filiq and Milovan Kovaçeviq.

These individuals are accused of the criminal offense “War crimes against the civilian population”. According to the notice distributed on the social network Facebook, the technical obstacles led to the interruption of the session, while judicial authorities have not yet provided details on when the process will resume.

The court had decided that the trial be held in absentia, following a proposal from the Special Prosecution of Kosovo. This decision was taken since the defendants were not accessible to the justice authorities at the time of the indictment, and efforts to locate them had failed.

Also, the court had previously made a public call to all defendants, inviting them to appear voluntarily and surrender to the criminal prosecution institutions of Kosovo. Today’s session marks the beginning of one of the most important judicial processes for war crimes undertaken by the domestic justice system.

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In its judgment, the court found that Mejreme Memaj’s lawsuit is well-founded. According to the ruling, the KJC’s interpretation of how the majority should have been calculated was incorrect, and there was no sufficient legal basis to proceed to a second round of voting.

The court found that a valid result had already been achieved in the first round, in which Mejreme Memaj and Rrustem Thaqi received 17 votes each, meeting the conditions to be considered elected.

For this reason, KJC decisions no. 38/2026 and no. 39/2026 dated January 29, 2026, were also annulled, including the certification of the result produced by the second round.

According to the judgment, the KJC is obliged within 15 days to issue a new administrative decision and certify the first-round result, under which Mejreme Memaj and Rrustem Thaqi are declared members of the KJC from the ranks of the Supreme Court.

The court also ordered that Mejreme Memaj be paid procedural costs in the amount of 2,750.34 euros.

This decision is not yet final and may be appealed to the Court of Appeals within the legal deadline of 15 days.

The case is linked to the election process held on January 23, 2026, for the selection of two Council members from the ranks of the Supreme Court. In that vote, 34 of 35 judges with voting rights took part.

Of the 34 ballots cast, 33 were valid and one was invalid. After the count, Mejreme Memaj and Rrustem Thaqi had won 17 votes each, while Bashkim Hyseni and Franciska Zhitia-Ymeri had 16 votes each.

The election commission had argued that no candidate had secured the required majority and had therefore decided to proceed to a second round. In this round, Rrustem Thaqi and Franciska Zhitia-Ymeri received 19 votes each, while Mejreme Memaj and Bashkim Hyseni received 15 votes each. The KJC then certified Thaqi and Zhitia-Ymeri as the new members.

On February 18, 2026, Mejreme Memaj, represented by lawyer Besnik Berisha, filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the KJC’s January 29, 2026 decision, by which the final result of the second round had been certified.

At the same time, she requested that only the first-round result be recognized as valid, according to which she and Rrustem Thaqi should be declared the winners.

In her claims, Memaj emphasized that in the first round she had received 51.52% of the valid votes and that the majority should be calculated only on the basis of valid votes, not invalid votes or the total number of participants.

According to the lawsuit, the election commission had acted arbitrarily when it decided that the process should move to a second round, thereby violating the Regulation on the procedure and criteria for the election of KJC members, as well as the constitutional practices cited in cases KI34/17 and KI55/17.

Memaj argued that she and Rrustem Thaqi had already reached the necessary majority in the first round and that the decision to continue voting with a second round violated an acquired right in the election process.

At the same time, she also requested the suspension of the implementation of the KJC’s decision, arguing that its execution would cause irreparable harm to her professional integrity and constitutional rights.

On the other hand, the KJC opposed the lawsuit, claiming that 18 votes were needed for election and that this majority had to be calculated based on the total number of participants in the vote, including the invalid ballot.

According to the KJC’s position, none of the candidates had reached this threshold in the first round, and therefore holding the second round had been necessary and in line with the regulation.

Franciska Zhitia-Ymeri, also in the capacity of a third party, supported the KJC’s position, emphasizing that the invalid ballot could not be excluded from the basis for calculating the majority and that the entire process had been conducted properly and constitutionally.

Judge Mejreme Memaj sued the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), seeking the annulment of the decision certifying the election result for two Council members from the third instance. She also filed a request for an interim measure, namely the suspension of the implementation of the January 29, 2026 decision.

From the certification of the election result, the KJC had found that the new Council members from the ranks of the Supreme Court were Rrustem Thaqi and Franciska Zhitija-Ymeri. Since both had been elected in the second round, plaintiff Memaj requested that the first-round result be certified and that she, together with Thaqi, be elected members, because according to her they had received the required majority of votes, reports “Betimi për Drejtësi”.

At the meeting held on January 29, 2026, the Council dismissed as inadmissible the objection submitted by candidate for KJC member from the ranks of Supreme Court judges, Mejreme Memaj, thereby certifying the election result held in that court and in the Court of Appeals.

According to chair Albert Zogaj, judges Rrustem Thaqi and Franciska Zhitia-Ymeri begin their mandates as KJC members on March 9, 2026, from the ranks of Supreme Court judges, while judge Afërdita Bytyqi also begins her mandate on March 9, 2026, as a member from the ranks of Court of Appeals judges.

Meanwhile, the voting process for members had been held on January 23, 2026 and, after the conclusion of the second round for the two new members from the ranks of the Supreme Court, judge Rrustem Thaqi and judge Franciska Zhitia-Ymeri were elected as new members, beginning a 5-year mandate.

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