Murder in Dragodan, victim's son says his father was threatened with murder over the phone

At Tuesday's hearing at the Basic Court in Pristina, witness Ramadan Tahiri said that his now deceased father RT, on the critical day of March 19, 2023, had received a phone call from someone who had told him that if he took him with him, the accused Mustafa Mustafa would kill him.

In this case, Avni Mustafa is accused of the murder of RT in Dragodan and of illegal possession of weapons, while Mustafa Mustafa is accused of participating in the beating and illegal possession of weapons, and Leutrim Mustafa of evidence tampering.

"On Friday afternoon, he received a phone call, from whom I didn't know, who told him that if he took Ramadan with him, they would kill him," the witness said.

The meeting on the critical day between his father and the now-defendant Mustafa, he said, was to talk about the apartments they had signed a purchase and sale contract for.

He said he realized this later after the event had occurred and the funeral ceremony and viewing had taken place.

When asked by prosecutor Fatmire Cacaj whether this could have happened for any reason, the witness confirmed that he could have been a victim as well.

"It's normal, since they killed my parent, that was true, they beat me too," the witness added.

During his testimony, Tahiri said that he and the accused Mustafa had entered into a contract for the sale and purchase of two apartments in Fushë-Kosovo.

Regarding these apartments, he said that they agreed that part of the price would be paid through compensation for the debt that Mustafa had towards him, while 15 thousand euros would be given in cash.

"Mustafa had a car loan against me and he gave me the loan, while the rest was left to me in cash. The car was worth 31 thousand euros and he owed 5 thousand euros to a person and I was responsible for paying off this debt and I wanted to take out a loan of 15 thousand euros to pay for housing if an agreement was reached," the witness said, reports "Oath of Justice".

He said that initially the price for the apartments was 80 thousand, then they agreed on 68 thousand euros for both apartments.

However, according to the witness, the apartments for which they signed an agreement with Mustafa were not completed within the deadline.

"We are interested as a family. I called Mustafa, he told me I can't fix the apartments because I have a financial crisis, but if he wants to sell the apartments to me and wait 1 year for the money, I didn't sell them to him," said Tahiri.

The witness said that his father and brothers were also aware of this trade.

Asked what the reason for his father's murder could have been, the witness said that they also want to know this since they had no disagreements.

"We are also asking for this, this reason and this justice, because we have not had any disagreements, nor have we ever been offended, and we have not had any other situation other than this with housing," said the witness.

According to the indictment filed on October 11, 2023 by the Basic Prosecution Office in Pristina, the defendant Avni Mustafa is charged with having deprived the now deceased RT of his life on March 19, 2023, at around 13:20 p.m. near the "Adria" hotel in Pristina, due to a property conflict suspected of being usury, by shooting him once in the chest with a revolver. Previously, it is said that he and his brother Mustafa Mustafa had met with the now deceased and two witnesses, and that after the argument they started to leave the hotel where the defendant Avni took out the revolver from his backpack and pointed it at RT, and the latter, in self-defense, took out the knife and stabbed the defendant Mustafa and then the defendant Avni. Thus, it is said that they went outside the hotel while fighting, and then the defendant Avni shot the victim, causing fatal wounds.

With this, he is accused of having committed the criminal offense of "Murder" under Article 172 of the Criminal Code and "Unauthorized ownership, control or possession of weapons" under Article 366, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.

The indictment states that the other defendant, Mustafa Mustafa, at the same time and place, is accused of participating in the beating of the now deceased and of possessing a knife, which he had taken from the now deceased. With this, he is accused of having committed the criminal offense of “Participation in a beating” under Article 187, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code and “Unauthorized possession, control or possession of weapons” under Article 366, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code.

Meanwhile, the accused Leutrim Mustafa is charged with the criminal offense of "Manipulation of Evidence" under Article 389, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code, since the indictment states that he received from the defendant Mustafa Mustafa the bag of the now-defendant Avni Mustafa, which contained the "Zastava" revolver, with which the criminal offense was committed, and that he had hidden the same in his office.