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| Naser Kelmendi in the Court (archive) |
The Basic Court in Pristina has issued a guilty verdict against Naser Kelmendi for drug trafficking.
Kelmendi has been sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison, announced the presiding judge, Suzana Çerkini, Kosovo media report.
She stated that the time Kelmendi has spent in pretrial detention will also be taken into account in the sentencing.
"The time spent in custody from May 13, 2013, until June 27, 2017, as well as from February 1, 2018, until July 24, 2018, will be included in the calculation of the sentence," said Çerkini.
The verdict was announced in the absence of the defendant, according to the report.
In 2018, the Basic Court in Pristina found Kelmendi guilty of unauthorized possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute and sentenced him to 6 years in prison. Regarding other points of the indictment, including charges of organized crime and the murder of Ramiz Delaliqi, a Bosnian national, Kelmendi was acquitted.
However, that same year, the Appeals Court had ordered a retrial for the charge on which Kelmendi was found guilty.
Kelmendi, born in Peja, is a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was initially arrested in 2013 by the Kosovo Police based on an international arrest warrant issued by Bosnian authorities.