Kelmendi Pleads Not Guilty as Trial Opens in Prishtina

The trial of Naser Kelmendi started in Prishtina on Friday with EULEX Special Prosecutor Andrew Hughes giving an opening statement in front of the Basic Court in Prishtina.

Kelmendi, currently in detention at the Dubrava Prison in Prishtina, is charged with aggravated murder, two counts of organized crime and six counts of sale and production of drugs in various capacities, which include the managing and overseeing a narcotics ring.

Spanning from the United Kingdom to Turkey, the hub of the drug ring is thought to be in Sarajevo, which is where the drugs would be repackaged or prepared for sale in Europe.

"In Sarajevo, they mixed the heroin for different countries. For the UK, pure heroin at the highest price, whereas Switzerland had the most mixed heroin," Prosecutor Hughes said.

Ecstasy tablets and heroin were mainly transported in altered fuel tanks to the various distributors Kelmendi's ring worked with, he added.

The heroin was transported to Sarajevo from Turkey and then to other European countries, whereas ecstasy tablets were generally transported from The Netherlands to Istanbul.

The most high-profile charge in the case concerns the 2007 murder of Ramiz Delalic, a Bosnian warlord. The prosecutor said Kelmendi had extensive motives for the killing.

"Delalic had given law-enforcement agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina extensive information about the drug-trafficking operations of Naser Kelmendi. Delalic was also trying to establish his own trafficking operations in Bosnia and this was perceived by Naser Kelmendi as a threat for his criminal organization," said Hughes.

Personal grudges are thought to have involved Bosnian media mogul Fahrudin Radoncic, who has, however, denied involvement in the case.

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