Before the panel of the Court of Appeals, the defense attorneys of the accused, Jeton and Nexhat Krasniqi, requested the annulment of the life imprisonment sentence for the murder of businessman Bedri Rexhepi, as well as a retrial of the case. However, this request was opposed by the lawyer representing the family of the late Bedri Rexhepi.

In May of this year, the Basic Court in Prishtina sentenced the two accused, Jeton and Nexhat Vllasaliu, to life imprisonment for the murder of Bedri Rexhepi in 2021.

Today, the Vllasaliu brothers were once again brought to the Basic Court, handcuffed and under high security.

During this session for the review of the appeals by the defense of Jeton and Nexhat Vllasaliu, Jeton’s lawyer, Florent Latifaj, emphasized that the life imprisonment verdict issued by the first instance court was unlawful.

He stated that the judgment of the Basic Court in Prishtina lacked reasoning, elaboration of facts, and assessment of evidence.

“We consider that in this particular case, this judgment results in essential violations of the provisions of criminal procedure, violations of the criminal law, and as a result, the sentence itself is unlawful. These violations consist in the fact that the judgment completely lacks reasoning, even though it is very voluminous. The elaboration of facts, evidence, and testimonies examined during the main trial and investigation is entirely missing. The court dealt with irrelevant issues, acting more like a prosecutor than a judge. The dispositive part is unclear and contradictory within itself and with the reasoning provided. The court failed to present clear, complete, and reasonable facts that it considered proven regarding the accused, instead offering an expanded description of the indictment along with witness statements from the investigation phase,” he said.

The defense attorneys Kosovare Kelmendi and Shemsedin Piraj, representing Nexhat Vllasaliu, also requested the annulment of the sentence and a retrial.

First, attorney Kosovare Kelmendi argued that, in the absence of evidence, the prosecution created fabrications and fictions to strengthen its indictment.

“The alleged motive in the judgment—that the crime was committed for a financial gain of 30,000 euros, which later turned out to be 8,000—is absurd and baseless. No one ever mentioned such a motive, not even Jeton Vllasaliu himself, nor that they shared the 8,000 euros. The prosecution relied on fabrications to reinforce its indictment, unsupported by evidence. There is no proof of any prior agreement, and no proof of joint participation by Nexhat in the murder or its execution. Therefore, I ask the Court of Appeals to carefully review my written appeal and act according to my proposal—to acquit Nexhat of the charge or to annul the judgment of the first instance and return the case for retrial,” she said.

Meanwhile, attorney Shemsedin Piraj explained why they are requesting a change of the trial panel if the case is returned for retrial.

“In the prosecutor’s office, a sheet of paper (A4 format) was prepared, where the first accused was asked to sketch the place where the body might be found. That sheet, which guided the investigation, has disappeared. I raised this issue, but not a single word about it appears in the 114-page judgment. The judgment does not mention the sketch that was used as a guide by Nexhat when he went to the scene to help locate Jeton. The surveillance at the crime scene, where they placed recording devices in bulletproof vests, was carried out on the 28th. The prosecutor submitted a request for authorization the next day, on the 29th, meaning that the surveillance done on the 28th was conducted without prior judicial approval—thus those recordings are inadmissible evidence,” he said.

The defense’s request to annul the life imprisonment sentence for the murder of businessman Bedri Rexhepi was opposed by Besnik Berisha, the lawyer representing the Rexhepi family, who argued that Nexhat was the architect of the murder, while Jeton was the executor.

“Was it a suicide, as they claim, or a premeditated murder? The forensic report clearly says he was strangled. Jeton himself says, ‘I strangled him,’ and describes the place. They claim that the time and place of death are unknown, but how can that be when Jeton himself admits it? This ‘commander of a war zone,’ who once claimed to have fought for the freedom of this land, took care to conceal Bedri Rexhepi’s body, and that’s what the evidence shows. The sketch they claim has disappeared—it’s not evidence; it’s a handwritten statement by a man who has changed his version 50 times. The sketch is his own writing, made in the prosecutor’s office. This was a cold-blooded and treacherous murder. The judgment of the first instance court was already lenient toward the accused. I firmly believe the architect was Nexhat and the executor was Jeton,” he said.

Considering it unjust for the case to be retried, attorney Berisha said that life imprisonment is the minimum punishment for such a crime.

Their entire approach is to exonerate one of them—as if it’s too much that both were convicted—to free Nexhat, and even the appeal on Jeton’s behalf serves that goal. It is unjust and unlawful to annul the sentence. Life imprisonment is the least possible punishment for a crime of ambush and betrayal—for a crime committed in his own home, where he was invited as a guest and left as a corpse, dragged through the mountains of Vllasali,” Berisha said.

On May 28 of this year, the Basic Court in Prishtina sentenced Jeton and Nexhat Vllasaliu to life imprisonment for the murder of Bedri Rexhepi in 2021.

The Basic Court in Prishtina found them guilty of aggravated murder in co-perpetration and of desecration of graves or corpses, related to the disappearance of Rexhepi’s body.