The trial against defendant Festim Bexhdili, suspected of the kidnapping and disappearance of Jan Prenga, is underway at the Special Court of Appeals.
Bexhdili was sentenced to life imprisonment, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court and the case was sent back for a retrial.
Festim Bexhdili's lawyer, Ilir Murati, requested that defendants Aldo Majnishta and Dritan Rexhepi be questioned together.
On the other hand, the Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime claims that Bexhdili was using a cell phone encrypted with the EncroChat program, but that it has not been decrypted.
But Bexhdili himself claims that he did not use this application. His lawyer says that the communications in SKY ECC have been broken down and Altin Hajri has no communications with Festim Bexhdili.
During the hearing, the lawyer requested the call of an expert to interpret the footage, and also requested the questioning of a citizen identified as Enxhi.
SPAK prosecutor Elida Kaçkini stated that two cell phones were seized during Bexhdil's arrest, one of them is encrypted.
"The lawyer is trying to avoid the fact that Bexhdili used an encrypted phone at a time when we, as the prosecutor, have proven that he used it. This is also accepted by the witness Enxhi, who is a social connection of Bexhdili. Bexhdili is part of the criminal group and was not found in the wrong place or time by chance," said the prosecutor.
"Explore the phone and bring us evidence, to clarify whether or not Bexhdili has communications, to create a full conviction, new evidence is needed. The phone must be disassembled and confirmed whether or not there are communications," the lawyer countered.
While the Special Court of Appeals rejected the lawyer's request to question witness Enxhi, it also refused to hire an IT expert to interpret the footage. But it did agree to make the footage available to the defense lawyer.
Likewise, the Appeals Court of Kosovo ordered the escorting of Aldo Majnishta and Dritan Rexhepi, who will be questioned in the process against Bexhdili, at the next session on June 12.
On March 20, 2023, the Special Appeal decided to sentence gardener Festim Bixhdili to life imprisonment, but the case was returned for retrial by the Supreme Court.
The prosecution claimed that Bexhdili, referring to security cameras at the resort, cleaned up the crime scene and helped bury the body.
According to the court, Bexhdili cleaned up the crime scene, secured the tools and searched for a place to bury the body, as well as found clean clothes for the perpetrators who carried out the kidnapping of Kamza.