The attorney of Nevaldo Hajdaraj, the police officer charged with the murder of Klodian Rasha, has filed a request for an abbreviated trial and change the charge from “murder with intent” to “homicide committed in excess of the necessary self-defense limits”.
Following today’s preliminary session, Hajdaraj apologized to Qazim Rasha, the victim’s father, who said that he has come to court “to see justice with his own eyes”.
“I am sorry for what happened, I never intended for that to happen”, said Hajdaraj in court.
“I think that no family should experience such a tragedy, no mother’s heart should be injured like this and no young man’s heart should be murdered in such a macabre way like my son”, said Qazim Rasha as he was exiting the court.
Klodian Rasha, a 25-year-old man, was shot dead on the 8 of December by then-police officer Nevaldo Hajdaraj, after being caught outside following a night curfew enforced by authorities.
Hajdaraj argued that Rasha ran away after he called on him to stop, leading him to think that the victim might have been holding a weapon. One day after, police authorities claimed to have found a weapon near the crime scene.
Three months after that claim, the investigation found out that the gun did not belong to Rasha, which led to changing the charge to “murder with intent”.
Rasha’s murder sparked a public outcry and citizens took the streets of Tirana for 5 consecutive days demanding from the Minister of Interior Sander Lleshaj to step down.
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