Kosovo’s Appeals Court has put the six-year sentence on Hysri Selimi, convicted of criminal spying in favour of Serbia’s Intelligence and Security Agency ( BIA).

The Special Department of the Court of Appeals has rejected Selimi’s special prosecutor and defence complaints as groundless, confirming the Constitutional Court’s act of justice in Pristina, declared on June 15th 2026.

The special prosecutor had called for stiffening the sentence, while the defence had sought Selimi’s release from the prosecution or annulment of the trial and turning the case into retrial.

However, with the act of October 7th 2026, Appeals has concluded that the first-degree court had proved to be the actual state and that there were no procedural violations that would reason to annul the decision.

What did the judgment reveal about co-operation with Serbian intelligence?

According to the tribunal’s findings, Hysri Selimi had co-operated with the Serbian Secret Service, BIA, collecting and conveying information dealing with the activities of former Kosovo Liberation Army members, killings during the war and radicalised persons.

Among the information conveyed included information about Albanians who had participated in the Syria war.

According to the Special Prosecutor’s Act, Selimi had been recruited by Serbian intelligence since November 2009, while co-operation had continued until his arrest on May 6th 2025.

For information it provided, according to judicial findings, Selimi received payments of up to 700 euros a month. He was also equipped with phones to communicate with Serbian secret service officials.

His meetings with BIA officials on Serbia’s territory, including Vranje, Nis and Bujanoc, are also mentioned in the Prosecution file.

One of the people suspected of having contacts was Igor Babic, identified in the indictment as the leader for fighting terrorism under the BIA.

Selimi claimed he worked for AKI, but Apel denied him arguments

During the review of the case at the Court of Appeals on 7 October, Selimi had denied guilt, claiming his actions had been carried out in co-ordination with the Kosovo Intelligence Agency ( AKI).

He had declared before the court that he had worked for Kosovo’s institutions and that he called for dawning the truth.

Even his protector, lawyer Ali Beka, had sought release from the prosecution or the return of the case to the retrial.

But the Court of Appeals has rejected these claims.

According to the grounds of the indictment, there was no evidence in the subject papers proving that Selim was recruited by AKI to carry out the actions for which he was convicted.

In determining the sentence, the court has taken into account the length of co-operation with the Serbian secret service, accepted payments and his trip to Syria.

Meanwhile, as extenuating circumstances, his contribution to clarifying the issue has been praised through statements given during the procedure.

From Arrest to Appeal’s Decision

Hysri Selimi was arrested on May 6th 2025, while the Special Prosecutor had filed charges against him on September 11th that same year.

On June 15, 2026, the Constitutional Court in Pristina, through Judge Leon Perlasca, had convicted him and sentenced him to six years in prison.

Following the complaints of the parties, the case had been passed to the Court of Appeals, which has already confirmed the conviction pronounced on the first scale.

Thus, Selimi remains in effect the six-year prison sentence for spying on Serbia’s secret service.

Note: Those who are referred to in this article are represented innocent until their guilt is proved by court – form decision.

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/Gazeta Sinjali/

Source Layer: Signal