Korab Pepaj, a member of the Kosovo Police’s Special Unit, was sentenced today to three years in prison by the Basic Court in Mitrovica after being convicted of attempting to murder a Serbian citizen, M.J., in April of last year. The verdict was confirmed by attorney Miloš Delević for KoSSev.
Pepaj was sentenced to three years solely for the criminal act of „attempted murder.“
He was acquitted of another charge, „manipulation of evidence.“ Additionally, three fellow officers from the same unit—Faton Maloku, Samet Uka, and Muhamet Muqiqi—were cleared of charges for „failure to report a crime or its perpetrator.“
The trio was accused of knowing about the use of their colleague’s weapon but failing to report it.
„Only Korab Pepaj was sentenced to three years in prison; the others were acquitted,“ said Delević.
The sentence will take into account the time Pepaj has already spent in detention. Delević also noted that Pepaj is currently free but will be taken into custody once the verdict becomes final. The injured party, M.J., has 30 days to appeal the decision.
However, Delević emphasized that before making any decisions, they need to consult M.J. and review the reasoning behind the verdict.
„Our primary goal was to establish the truth, namely that M.J. was shot by Korab Pepaj and that Pepaj attempted to kill him, as confirmed by this verdict. We stated that the defendant’s lawyer’s claim that someone else shot M.J. was inaccurate. In that regard, we are satisfied with the ruling. The length of the sentence was not our main concern,“ said Delević.
The Incident: Shooting of M.J. from Zerovnica
To recap, M.J. from Zerovnica was shot after failing to stop when directed by police at a checkpoint on the night of April 10th, 2023. The shooter, Korab Pepaj, a member of the Kosovo Police Special Unit, opened fire after M.J. ignored a police signal.
These details were included in the indictment, which charged Pepaj with the criminal offense of „attempted murder.“
A separate case was initiated for the three other police officers—Faton Maloku, Samet Uka, and Muhamet Muqiqi—who faced charges of „failure to report a crime or its perpetrator,“ for knowing about their colleague’s use of a firearm but not reporting it.
Additionally, Pepaj was also accused of „manipulating evidence,“ specifically for allegedly removing and hiding two spent shell casings from his service weapon.
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