The two defendants, Bedri Shabani and Muharrem Qerimi, pleaded not guilty to espionage charges during the initial hearing held on Monday at the Basic Court in Prishtina. However, Qerimi admitted guilt for a separate charge of “unauthorised possession of weapons.”

In February 2025, Kosovo’s Special Prosecution indicted both men on suspicion of espionage.

“I am completely innocent,” Bedri Shabani stated at the court.

“I do not plead guilty to the charge of espionage, but I do admit guilt for unauthorised possession of weapons,”  Muharrem Qerimi stated.

Qerimi’s attorney, Betim Shala, confirmed his client’s guilty plea for the weapons charge.

“The admission of guilt is based on material evidence contained in the case files and was made after consulting with the defence. I urge the judge to accept this plea regarding the charge of unauthorised possession of weapons,” Shala told the court.

Shabani and Qerimi were arrested in June 2024 in Ferizaj/Urosevac.

According to the indictment, Shabani allegedly cooperated with Serbia’s Intelligence and Security Agency, BIA, before the 1998-99 war in Kosovo and continued doing so until his arrest in 2024.

Shabani is accused of gathering intelligence, documents, and materials related to the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, including information about its commanders and specific locations and events, such as the KLA Military Hospital. The indictment claims that he sent this information to BIA through phone calls, emails, and in-person meetings in Serbia.

The prosecution argues that Shabani’s actions seriously endangered Kosovo’s constitutional order and national security.

Qerimi, meanwhile, is accused of aiding BIA from 2012 to 2024 by providing intelligence, documents, and materials related to the KLA, Kosovo’s security structures, and high-ranking officials within the Kosovo Police, Kosovo Intelligence Agency, AKI, and Police Inspectorate of Kosovo, IPK.

He also faces charges for unauthorised possession of weapons.

As described in the indictment, Bedri Shabani and Muharrem Qerimi held in-person meetings in Serbia with a senior BIA official and a former Serbian police commander who also led a police-military operation during one of the massacres committed in Kosovo during the war.

The initial hearing was originally scheduled for March 5 but was postponed to March 17 after one of the defendants requested more time to review the indictment before entering a plea.

In 2024,  Kosovo Police seized weapons, ammunition, and military-grade gas masks from properties linked to Shabani and Qerimi in Ferizaj/Urosevac.