The court will decide today on the defendants in the murder of Liridona Ademaj.

2026-04-21 09:24:13, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Basic Court in Pristina is expected to announce today the verdict against Naim Murseli, Granit Plava and Kushtrim Kokalla, accused of the murder of Liridona Ademaj, on November 29, 2023.

In their closing arguments in the trial, the Prosecution requested life imprisonment for them, claiming that the murder of the 30-year-old, Mursel's wife, was carried out in a planned manner.

Disputing the Prosecution's accusations, the defendants' lawyers said that there is no direct evidence that Murseli, Plava, and Kokalla committed the criminal offenses.

Ademaj's brother has requested life imprisonment for Murseli, Kokalla, and Plava, saying that the murder was organized by the defendants and has left the family in great pain.

In both statements on the charges against him, Murseli has denied guilt for the murder of Ademaj, saying that he did not pay, order, or assist in the murder of his wife.

He claims that on the critical night the family was faced with a robbery, and that he was not in the car at the time of the murder, calling every accusation against him untrue.

While Plava refused to plead guilty, during his testimony he said that he had carried out the actions according to an agreement with Mursel, so that he alone would take responsibility for the case.

He claims that at the critical moment he only heard the scream, and was then told to leave the scene, along with the weapon used to commit the murder, claiming that he then fled at speed.

Meanwhile, Kokalla, who initially refused to testify, later declared himself innocent of the case during the trial.

During his testimony, he denied involvement in the crime, emphasizing that he had initially learned about the event from the media.

On the evening of November 29, 2023, Liridona Ademaj was killed on a road in the village of Bërnicë, Pristina, while she was in a car with her husband Naim Murseli and their two children.

The indictment accuses Mursel of planning her murder in order to benefit from her life insurance in Sweden, worth around 260 thousand euros.

Kokalla is accused of introducing Mursel to Plava, who is accused of being the ringleader.

Plava is accused of killing Ademaj with a firearm, shooting him in the head, according to the forensic expert, at a distance of 2 to 5 centimeters.

According to the Prosecution, he committed the murder in exchange for 30 thousand euros from Murseli.

However, during the trial, Kokalla stated that the agreement with Murseli, to take responsibility for the murder, was for 250 thousand euros, but in order not to mention large amounts, it was agreed that only 30 thousand euros would be mentioned to the Police.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor in the case, Javorka Përlincevi?, stated during the court hearing that Mursel had held his wife by the arm so that she would not escape the bullet.

"...Naimi, cunningly, with his right hand, held Liridona by the arm of her left hand, so that she would not dodge the bullet, after which, Naimi, with the children, got out of the car and left the scene," the prosecutor said at the start of the trial, on January 31, 2025.

Murseli is accused of having purchased the pistol with which the murder was committed from Tom Dodaj for 280 euros on the day of the tragic event.

The latter pleaded guilty at the beginning of the trial, while in February 2025 he was sentenced to five years in prison and a five thousand euro fine for the criminal offense of "Unauthorized import, export, supply, transportation, production, exchange, brokerage or sale of weapons or explosive materials."

However, after about a year, the Court of Appeal reduced Dodaj's sentence to three years in prison and a 3,000 euro fine, citing as factors his admission of guilt, his apology to the victim's family, and the fact that he "had not been aware of what the weapon he had sold would be used for."

Ademaj's murder sparked public reaction, especially when suspicions were raised that it had been ordered by her husband, who attended her funeral ceremony.

The family then requested the exhumation of her body, to be reburied in the Ademaj family cemetery.

A few days after the murder, a protest march was held in Pristina, while a smaller protest also took place in the Albanian capital, Tirana.

Around 60 women have been murdered in Kosovo since 2010, in most cases by their husbands, followed by fathers and sons.

On April 12, 2024, Erona Cokli, 21, was murdered by her husband at the Center for Social Work in Ferizaj.

Four days later, on April 16, 43-year-old Gjyljeta Ukella was also killed by her husband in Peja.

On January 21, 2026, another woman was murdered - the perpetrator of the crime in Dragash is suspected to be her son. /REL