English - Eulex

Mehmet Morina
The Supreme Court announced the decision in the case of Mehmet Morina on 19 May 2009. The first instance
verdict was modified by a Supreme Court panel composed of two EULEX and three Kosovo Supreme Court
judges.
The District Court of Pristina on 2 July 2005 found Mehmet Morina guilty of attempted aggravated murder
acting in complicity with other persons, and of aiding and abetting one another, in a brutal or insidious,
wanton and violent manner, in connection with the March 2004 riots; and acquitted him of the charge
of participation in a group that commits a criminal act. More specifically, Morina was charged with the
attempted aggravated murder of a Kosovo Serb male on the first day of the March 2004 riots in Bresje
area in Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, by hitting him with a metal bar held in both his hands and then swung
down as one would use an axe to split wood with violent force. The victim did not die instantly but was
set on fire by unidentified persons after being assaulted, and died subsequently. Mehmet Morina received
a sentence of 18 years of imprisonment, in which the time spent in detention, since 19 April 2004, was
included.
The Public prosecutor filed an appeal to the detriment of Mehmet Morina, asking the appeal panel to find
him guilty of aggravated murder instead of attempted aggravated murder, and to modify the first instance
judgment accordingly. The defendant also appealed against the verdict through his Defence counsel
primarily aiming his acquittal or alternatively to impose a more lenient sentence on him.
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of the Public prosecutor and partially granted the appeal of the
defendant, modifying the verdict of Pristina District Court as follows:
- changing the criminal offence to attempted aggravated murder in complicity with other
persons, carried out in a malicious way, and
- reducing the sentence from 18 years to 12 years of imprisonment.
The remaining part of the first instance verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court.
One of the members of the appeal panel of the Supreme Court (a EULEX judge) submitted a partially
dissenting opinion to the judgment, arguing that Mehmet Morina’s offence should have been qualified as,
and Mehmet Morina should have been found guilty of, murder instead of attempted murder.
The defendant submitted through his defence counsel a request for the protection of legality. The EULEX
prosecutor also submitted request for the protection of legality to the detriment of the defendant.
Supreme Court panel composed of two EULEX judges and three Kosovo judges rejected both requests
and confirmed the verdict of the Supreme Court of 19 May 2009.
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Cases involving charges related to the March 2004 riots events were also received by the EULEX criminal
judges at district court level. One case which, following its transfer to EULEX on 24 December 2008 was
assigned to the EULEX judges in Prizren DC was the case against Gani Haziraj, the summary of which is
given below.
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