Shortened trial on Balili, court accepts request

Shortened trial on Balili, court accepts request

The Serious Crimes Court will proceed with a shortened trial for Kelment Balili.

The trio of judges led by Flora Hajredinaj, Liljana Baku and Ardit Mustafaj accepted the request made at the previous hearing by lawyer Theodhori Sollaku and Balili himself, by accepting the prosecutors' evidence without contest.

The decision was announced at a hearing held today. This was the first trial in relation to the case, with prosecutor Ened Nakuçi read the 47-year-olds trial claim. A total of 4 charges have been laid, the most significant of which stands him accused of "International Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs."

The prosecutor himself did not express if he agreed or not with the Court’s request, while the trial panel set the date of March 12 for the prosecution to give the final conclusions.

In addition to international drug trafficking charges, Balili also faces charges of "Participation in a Structured Criminal Group", "Non-declaration or false assertation of wealth" and "Laundering of the proceeds of crime.

Klement Balili surrendered to police on January 17 following an announcement that the file would be referred to court. He was first declared a wanted person back in May 2016.
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