Krivaqa is sentenced to life imprisonment, Sejdiu to 15 years imprisonment

The Basic Court in Ferizaj gave the same sentence as the first verdict to Dardan Krivaqës and Arbër Sejdi - one accused of murder and the other of helping in the murder of 18-year-old Marigona Osmani. Krivaqa was sentenced to life imprisonment and Sejdiu to 15 years imprisonment. While the Court of Ferizaj declared that it has taken into account the recommendations of the Appeal, the lawyer of the victim's family and the lawyer of one of the accused warned of an appeal

The Basic Court in Ferizaj on Monday sentenced Dardan Krivaqa to life imprisonment, and Arbër Sejdiu to 15 years in prison, for the murder of 18-year-old Marigona Osmani in 2021. 

The sentence is the same as in the first verdict, which was overturned by the Court of Appeal last year. The same were the qualifications for the criminal offenses for which the accused were convicted. 
Krivaqa was sentenced for aggravated murder, while Sejdiu was sentenced for assisting in the commission of aggravated murder. 

Both defendants were acquitted of the charges of assaulting Osmani. The judicial panel headed by Sahit Krasniqi said that the remarks of the Court of Appeal were taken into account. 

"Forensic expert Professor Dr. Naim Haliti was also heard, who compiled the autopsy report and in his testimony given in this court only confirms the death in a cruel way of the late Marigona Osmani, who among other things stated that the death of the deceased was a result of multiple injuries, which are otherwise known as polytrauma, which injuries were a result of injury to vital body organs", said Krasniqi. 

The jury did not speak about the motive of the murder during the announcement of the verdict, but emphasized that what it is reading is the announcement of the verdict, until the complete, detailed and written verdict will be delivered to the parties in time. 

Among the violations found by the Appeal in the ruling issued on February 22, 2024, that the motive "jealousy" was derived from the defendant's own statement at the Forensic Psychiatry and that the cruelty mentioned in the ruling is not something that was proven by the statements of the Institute's experts of Forensic Medicine (IML).

The lawyers of Marigona Osmani's family, as well as of the accused Arbër Sejdiu, expressed their dissatisfaction with Monday's decision. Lawyer Gazmend Rexhepi, who represents the victim's family, said that from the video recordings, it can be seen that Arbër Sejdiu was also involved in the murder. 

"I would be even more satisfied if the second convict also received the meritorious decision, i.e. the lifelong decision. It's the evidence for life imprisonment... The cruelty that was clarified by the court and that is foreseen by the Criminal Code of Kosovo was established on the basis of the shooting evidence... It's strange the first time how it was returned to the retrial without being cited the main facts, the main evidence was not cited, either in the judgment, or in the prosecutor's complaint, or in my complaint, we were all called to the videotapes from the moment the (crime) was committed... I am a little limited in the right to appeal since only the criminal sanction can appeal, but of course for this murder the sanction is low as a representative of the family and of course I will appeal", said Rexhepi. 

Even the lawyer of the accused Sejdiu, Arbnora Shefkiu, has stated that they will file a complaint. 

"Even the reasoning was the same as last time, for which the Court of Appeal also gave a warning... With what was communicated, I hope that the court will at least give a justification on which evidence it based this requalification and definitely we will file a complaint within the legal deadline", said Shefkiu. 

The court concluded that Krivaqa knowingly hit the deceased for two consecutive days with a wooden stick, causing physical and mental pain, severe injuries to vital organs and broken bones, culminating in the cruel murder of the girl with whom he lived. 

And, for the other accused, Sejdiu, the court found that he often entered and left the apartment where Krivaqa beat Osmani to death, following the situation if anyone was listening or seeing them, as well as providing him with food from the neighborhood store. 

Besides this evidence, according to the jury, Sejdiu's stay in the apartment all night proves his intention to help Krivaqa in killing his ex-girlfriend. The murder of 18-year-old Marigona Osmani on August 21, 2021, in the apartment where she was living with Dardan Krivaqë, shocked public opinion.