UNMIK/PR/1396
PRISTINA – The Prizren District Court has sentenced three persons, all citizens of Albania, to high prison terms for involvement in human trafficking and related offences. In a verdict rendered on 20 July 2005, a court panel composed of two international and one Kosovan judge sentenced Vladimir Ukaj and Robert Sylaj to 12 years in prison, and the third defendant Sabri Islami to 10 years. The prison terms are the highest ever in a human trafficking case in Kosovo.
The accused were found guilty of 11 of the 12 charges filed against them by the International Public Prosecutor in Prizren. The charges include Trafficking in Human Beings, Rape, Facilitation of Prostitution and Falsification of Documents.
The investigation began in late 2003 when KFOR Military Police officers observed suspicious activity at the Coffee Bar “Pashtriku” in Prizren, which led them to believe that prostitution might be taking place there. They passed this information on to the UNMIK Police Trafficking in Human Beings unit in Prizren, which commenced an investigation.
During the investigation two Albanian female victims, one of them 16 years old, were identified and rescued by the police. Both of them had been lured to Kosovo with false promises of legitimate work, only to find that their supposed employers were in fact intending to force them into prostitution.
The three suspects involved were arrested and the “Pashtriku” coffee bar was closed by decision of the Prizren District Court.
Investigation into this case involved joint efforts of UNMIK international and Kosovo Police officers, the Department of Justice, the Prizren District Public Prosecutor’s office and KFOR Military Police.