Trial against Rrahim and Ilir Abdullah, Triumf Riza's father: They are Enver Sekiraqa's right hand, they have been following Triumf for two years

In the trial of the two defendants, Ilir Abdullahu - "Liza" and Rrahim Abdullahu - "Rrumqi", Shefqet Riza, the father of Triumf Riza, who was murdered in 2007, testified.

Ilir Abdullahu and Rrahim Abdullahu from the Special Prosecution are accused of having murdered Kosovo police officer Triumf Riza in collusion with Arben Berisha, Fitim Avdiu and Enver Sekiraqa.

In the hearing held on 23.04.2025, witness Shefqet Riza, Triumf Riza's father, said that the two accused, Ilir and Rrahim Abdullahu, were Enver Sekiraqa's right-hand men. He also said that the accused had followed the deceased Triumf Riza for two years.

"I know about these two people that they are relatives of Enver Sekiraqa, and they are Enver Sekiraqa's right hand and they have been following him continuously for two years until the day of the murder, 30.09.2007, which they did. They followed him continuously, the late Triumf Riza gave a statement about this following to the police and the issue is that 10 days before the murder, the AKI itself warned the police to be careful that Triumf Riza was in danger of being killed. But these are the main ones, Rrahimi with the nickname 'Rrumqi' and 'Liza' with the real name Ilir Abdullahu, these are the main followers and they have influenced that today he is no longer alive," said witness Riza.

"The deceased only had dealings with Enver Sekiraqa, and that in an official capacity, if he had not been in an official capacity, the deceased would not have been declared a hero of Kosovo today. Another thing, the main instigator to kill me was Enver Sekiraqa, for which he was convicted and for which the judge acquitted him and today he has fled. As the instigator and the murderer, we are the same, even worse is the instigator" - continued Shefqet Riza, Triumf Riza's father, in the session held on 23.04.2025.

Witness Shefqet Riza said that the deceased had been followed in an organized manner, with cars and scooters.

"It happened that the deceased was confronted by criminals and ended up in a grave," said Riza.

The defendants' lawyers also had questions about Triumf Riza's father.

"Can you give me more details on where you have evidence of these escorts on scooters?" asked lawyer Ramë Dreshaj, who is defending the accused Ilir Abdullahu.

"It's been a long time, 18 years, one of the most important ones was in the village of Stagova when they threw stones at me so I couldn't pass," said Triumf Riza's father.

The same person said that he had not been present, but that the deceased had also told him about the other son, Visari.

"He only had direct dealings with Enver Sekiraqa, but he encouraged these people, these are his relatives, these are the main ones," said Shefqet Riza.

"For the very fact that they are guilty, they have fled," Riza added.

The defense attorney of the accused Rrahim Abdullahu, lawyer Xhemajl Ademaj, also had questions about it.

"After the incident that happened at Swiss Casino, you stated that in a conversation with the boy, he told you that a person, apparently named Rrahim, followed me," lawyer Xhemajl Ademaj asked.

"He gave his name and nickname correctly, he said that after the Swiss Cassino problem, these two people followed him intensively: Rrahim Abdullahu with the nickname "Rrumqi" and Ilir Abdullahu with the nickname 'Liza'," Riza declared.

During his testimony, Shefqet Riza said that apart from the Sekiraq group, his late son had not had any problems with anyone else and even though 18 years have passed since his murder, as a family they cannot forget their son.

The hearing held on Wednesday, 23.04.2025 was adjourned, while the next one is expected to continue tomorrow, 24.04.2025, where the next set of witnesses will be heard.

We recall that in the court session held on 21.02.2025, two cases were merged: the merger of the case of Rrahim Abdullah and that of Ilir Abdullah.

"The prosecution has requested that they be joined, because they deal with the same criminal case, and that these two cases be tried as one case due to cost-savings," said Judge Valon Kurtaj.

This case is being handled in the Special Department of the Court of Pristina, composed of the following panel: Valon Kurtaj (chairman) and Lutfi Shala and Violeta Namani-Hajra members.

Rrahim Abdullahu is accused of aggravated murder in co-perpetration, but the Basic Court in Pristina in 2015 reclassified the offense to "providing assistance to perpetrators after the commission of the criminal offense", finding him guilty of this offense.

The Basic Court of Pristina, with its verdict dated 04.12.2015, found Rrahim Abdullahu guilty of the criminal offense of "providing assistance to perpetrators after the commission of a criminal offense" and sentenced him to 4 years and 11 months in prison.

However, the Court of Appeals has returned the case of Rrahim Abdullah for retrial.

KALLXO.com has obtained the decision of the Court of Appeals, which returned the case of Rrahim Abdullah for retrial.

"The appeals of the Special Prosecution of Kosovo, of the defense attorney of the accused Rrahim Abdullahu, attorney Miodrag Brkjaq, are approved, and ex officio, the judgment of the Basic Court - DKR in Pristina, PKR.nr.211/2014, dated 04.12.2015, is annulled and the criminal case is returned to the first instance court for retrial," the decision of the Court of Appeal states.

This decision was made by the panel of judges composed of: Xhevdet Abazi – president, Fillim Skoro – referring judge and Driton Muharremi – member.

For the murder of police officer Triumf Riza, which occurred in 2007, the Kosovo Police, on 16.07.2023, arrested the suspect Ilir Abdullahu. Abdullahu has been wanted by law enforcement agencies for 15 years, and his arrest took place on 16.07.2023 in Batllavë, Podujevo.

The two found guilty of the murder of Triumf Riza are Arben Berisha, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for this crime, and Enver Sekiraqa, who was found guilty of incitement to murder by the Basic Court of Pristina and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

This is the third time that Sekiraqa has been convicted of inciting Riza's murder. For the first time, in 2016, Sekiraqa was sentenced to 36 years in prison, and again in 2019, to 20 years in prison. Enver Sekiraqa is currently on the run and is wanted by law enforcement.

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo, on 01.09.2024, filed an indictment against Ilir Abdullah for the criminal offense of "aggravated murder in the case of the murder of police officer Triumf Riza".

On 03.08.2024, Ilir Abdullah, known as Liza, had his pre-trial detention extended for another two months.

At the beginning of April, the Pristina Court had decided to extend the detention of Abdullah, a suspect in the murder of Triumf Riza, for another two months.

Abdullahu, known by the nickname "Liza", was released from detention by the Pristina Court after posting 100,000 euros in bail.

The Court of Appeal, on 03.11.2023, returned Ilir Abdullah to detention.

The reasoning of the Court of Appeal states that the appeal of the Special Prosecutor's Office alleges that the decision on the bail measure is in violation of the provisions of criminal procedure. This is due to the fact that for the determination of this measure there must be a well-founded suspicion and that the only basis is the risk of flight, therefore the Prosecutor's Office has assessed that the legal conditions for the determination of the bail measure against the same have not been met.

Read too Trial against Rrahim and Ilir Abdullah, father of Triumf Riza: 'These were the key figures in the Sekiraqa criminal gang'

The Court of Appeal had assessed that the Special Prosecution's appeal was well-founded and that the Court of First Instance had not provided sufficient reasons – regarding the proportionality and appropriateness of this measure.

Therefore, replacing the measure of detention with a bail measure, in the amount of 100,000 euros for the defendant, is not fair and legal, and the defendant Abdullahu must be returned to detention.

The Supreme Court of Kosovo had upheld the decision of the Court of Appeals to return Ilir Abdullah to detention.

The Supreme Court had rejected the appeal of Abdullah's lawyer, Ramë Dreshaj, who had filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision to return the suspect to pre-trial detention.

Prosecution file

According to the Prosecution File, the accused Ilir Abdullahu, with the now convicted Arben Berisha and Fitim Avdiu, and with the defendants Enver Sekiraqa and Rrahim Abdullahu, as a group organized by the defendant Enver Sekiraqa, driven by the motive of unscrupulous revenge, and intentionally to deprive the late Triumf Riza of his life, because the same, on 24.12.2005, in the "Swiss Casino" bar, in Prishtina, had beaten Enver Sekiraqa, who had been hospitalized, because after Triumf informed Adelina Ismajli, the same did not allow him to give him the racket (haraq) - money as before.

The indictment states that for a while they followed the movements of the deceased, Triumf Riza, in cars and on 30.08.2007, while Arben Berisha, Enver Sekiraqa, Rrahim Abdullahu and Ilir Abdullahu were at the "Sekiraqa" bar in Pristina, the now convicted Fitim Avdiu, through his phone, sent a message to the now accused Ilir Abdullahu with the content "Parking at the Grand, the neighbor had a drama", alluding to Riza, who had an apartment opposite the "Sekiraqa" bar, while at that time he was at the Grand Hotel.

According to the indictment, after receiving the notification, the now convicted Berisha and the defendants, Ilir Abdullahu and Rrahim Abdullahu, drove to the "Quins" bar, where the now convicted Arben Berisha, previously armed with a pistol, entered one bar, while the defendants Ilir and Rrahim entered another bar, to wait for Riza, as the latter was a guest of that AMPM bar almost every day.

Further, according to the indictment, the defendant Rrahim Abdullahu sent a message to the now convicted Berisha through his phone, while he was sitting on the terrace of a bar near the AMPM bar, with the content "Stay still, you're welcome, I'll call you later", after Riza had been seen at the AMPM bar.

According to the indictment, at the moment when Riza left the bar and was near his vehicle, the now convicted Arben Berisha ran towards him and in a cunning manner, when Triumf Riza had not expected any attack, and with his back turned to him, at a distance of 5 meters, he shot 11 times with three short bursts with a pistol, hitting him with two shells in the back, where the shells, due to the dynamic action, penetrated the aorta, heart and lungs, from which injuries he died, while he was hit in the thigh of his right leg with one shell.

For this, the accused Ilir Abdullahu and Rrahim Abdullahu, in co-perpetration with the convicted Arben Berisha, Fitim Avdiu and Enver Sekiraqa, are accused of having committed the criminal offense of "aggravated murder". /Kallxo.com/