The lawyer and the family demand the dismissal of the prosecutor Shefkiu from the "Dehari" case

A request for the exclusion of the prosecutor, Afrim Shefkiu, from the investigations into the death of Astri Dehari, was submitted on Friday by the lawyer and his family members. Dehar's parents justified the request with the prosecutor's lack of information on the progress of the case. Meanwhile, lawyer Tome Gashi has accused the prosecutor of silence regarding the sending of damaged and unusable evidence to the Swiss Institute.

The exclusion of the prosecutor of the Special Prosecution, Afrim Shefkiu, from the investigation into the case of the death of Astri Dehari in prison about six years ago, was requested on Friday by the lawyer and the family members of the deceased.

As a reason for the addressed request, Dehari's mother, Xhemile Dehari, has counted the lack of information provided by the prosecutor on the progress of the investigations. She emphasized during a press conference that prosecutor Shefkiu did not provide this information, despite all the requests addressed by the family's lawyer.

"Not that we chose it. We have not even sent him, nor have we chosen him. But his work has forced us to make such a request, since we have been waiting for him for four years and we have not even heard four words from him about what is being done, how it is being done. We went once more and talked. He has not given us any clarification. He never calls us, he never talks. We are not enemies, we are people who want to solve the case that happened to us at their hands", said Xhemile Dehari, during the conference.
The father of the deceased and at the same time the MP of the Vetëvendosje Movement also expressed his disappointment with the work of the prosecutor. Expressing his admiration for Sheki's work, Avni Dehari remembered the time when the family was happy that the case surrounding the death of their son was transferred from the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Prizren to the Special Prosecutor's Office. However, he also accused the prosecutor of manipulating opinion about the earlier report issued by the Forensic Institute in Switzerland.
"Instead of sending it to us, to us as a family, they sent (the Institute's report from Switzerland) only to the lawyer, without sending it to us and they left... the prosecutor immediately released two points of the report to the media, with which he intended to manipulate the opinion about suicide", said Dehari.

Tome Gashi, the family's lawyer, during the conference for the announcement of the request of the Dehari family about the prosecutor, also presented a photo of the wounds on Dehari's head. These wounds, he said, constitute evidence of his murder in prison.

"Actually, wounds have been found that resemble boxing (iron fists) and that's it. The prosecutor does not state at all in the protocol request to invite forensic experts", said Gashi.
Lawyer Gashi has also complained that the prosecutor has been silent about the sending of damaged and unusable evidence for the previous expertise from the Institute in Switzerland.

"The prosecutor, instead of demanding a criminal investigation for the people who sent this evidence to Switzerland, because the prosecutor is responsible, he remains silent. On 22.04 of this year, 10 days after receiving the expertise, I filed for criminal investigation for the prosecutor to identify with names and surnames the competent persons, the persons responsible, who sent to Switzerland the manipulated evidence, unusable evidence, evidence with which no scientific result can be achieved, because they were simply damaged in Kosovo", said Gashi.

also Arberi 12 August 2022 The Dehari family requests the dismissal of the prosecutor of the "Dehari" case, Afrim Shefkiu

He announced that since last year until now, prosecutor Shefkiu has been requested to provide him with the requests-orders that he made to the Swiss Institute of Forensic Medicine for the investigation of unusable evidence, for the investigation and for the identification of the officials who had transferred Astrit Dehar from prison, as well as a request for clarification about the wounds on the deceased's head.

The Special Prosecutor's Office did not issue any communique or response on Friday regarding the issues raised in the conference of the lawyer and the Dehari family.
Astrit Dehari, an activist of the Vetëvendosje Movement, died in Prizren Prison on November 5, 2016. After his death at the age of 26, conflicting statements regarding the cause of death were addressed by the institutions.