Ex-judge Sali Berisha was found guilty and sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison, accused of receiving 2 euros in bribes and possession of a revolver without a permit. He was also given an additional sentence where he was banned from exercising public and state functions for the next three years.
The judgment was announced on Friday at the Basic Court in Pristina.
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Letter to the Reader — Why We're Asking for Your Support ContributeBerisha was also sentenced to a fine of 4 euros for "taking a bribe" and 1 euros for carrying weapons without a permit.
The unique punishment with a fine of 5 thousand euros must be paid within a period of 1 month after the full force of the verdict.
In the last session held on April 24, the Special Prosecutor's Office requested the punishment of former judge Berisha, while defending his release.
According to the indictment filed on February 5, 2020, by the Special Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kosovo, the defendant Sali Berisha, a judge in the Department for Serious Crimes in the Basic Court of Peja, is accused of having directly requested and received a benefit so that to act contrary to his official duty.
As stated in the indictment, on September 19, 2019, the defendant Berisha had met with the witness FZ, from whom he had accepted the sum of 2 thousand euros, and they had agreed that in a case where for two criminal offenses "Smuggling with migrants" was the accused brother of the witness FZ, the defendant Berisha, as the president of the trial body, to pronounce a favorable sentence, where he had announced a sentence of three years for these crimes, on the condition that he does not commit another criminal offense within two years.
In addition, Judge Berisha is being accused of having, until September 19, 2019, illegally kept a "Zaza Mini" type revolver, caliber 8 mm, together with 10 cartridges, which was seized from him on the occasion of the raid on his apartment in Peja.
Otherwise, the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), in an extraordinary meeting, on September 20, 2019, had suspended judge Sali Berisha, after his arrest, on suspicion of involvement in criminal acts of corruption. / Oath of Justice
