{"id":85672,"date":"2026-07-28T16:50:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T14:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=85672"},"modified":"2026-07-28T17:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:41:36","slug":"court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"qMYqUG_convSearchResultHighlightRoot qMYqUG_convSearchResultTextHighlightSafari\">\n<div class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:bf07789e-c33b-4efe-873c-9eadd6ea0ed5-6\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\">\n<section class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:bf07789e-c33b-4efe-873c-9eadd6ea0ed5-6\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:bf07789e-c33b-4efe-873c-9eadd6ea0ed5-6\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-14\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-8 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" tabindex=\"0\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"22bdebc6-7858-4441-9359-d38df6e21179\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-5\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"safari-katex-mathml markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\">\n<p data-start=\"76\" data-end=\"195\">The Basic Court in Pristina has acquitted Skenderaj Mayor Sami Lushtaku of all charges related to witness intimidation.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"197\" data-end=\"338\">Lushtaku, a senior figure in Kosovo&#8217;s Democratic Party (PDK), had been indicted in the &#8220;Drenica 1&#8221; case alongside seven other defendants.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"340\" data-end=\"529\">Presiding Judge Leon P\u00ebrlaska said that the court found insufficient evidence during the trial to prove that the defendants had committed the criminal offences with which they were charged.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"531\" data-end=\"768\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Lushtaku had been accused of pressuring two witnesses between 2013 and 2015 to change their statements during the &#8220;Drenica&#8221; war crimes trial, which concerned alleged crimes committed in the village of Likoc in the Drenica region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-3 w-full empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"text-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1\" data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Basic Court in Pristina has acquitted Skenderaj Mayor Sami Lushtaku of all charges related to witness intimidation. Lushtaku, a senior figure in Kosovo&#8217;s Democratic Party (PDK), had been indicted in the &#8220;Drenica 1&#8221; case alongside seven other defendants. Presiding Judge Leon P\u00ebrlaska said that the court found insufficient evidence during the trial to prove [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":85673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,1803],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku - Euronews Albania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku - Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Basic Court in Pristina has acquitted Skenderaj Mayor Sami Lushtaku of all charges related to witness intimidation. Lushtaku, a senior figure in Kosovo&#8217;s Democratic Party (PDK), had been indicted in the &#8220;Drenica 1&#8221; case alongside seven other defendants. Presiding Judge Leon P\u00ebrlaska said that the court found insufficient evidence during the trial to prove [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Euronews Albania\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/euronews.al\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T14:50:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T15:41:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"347\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nen Si\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@euronewsalbania\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@euronewsalbania\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nen Si\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nen Si\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/444d280f35e047949b7f0bc08093608f\"},\"headline\":\"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T14:50:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-28T15:41:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\"},\"wordCount\":112,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Albania\",\"Latest news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\",\"name\":\"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku - Euronews Albania\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T14:50:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-28T15:41:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg\",\"width\":576,\"height\":347},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Euronews Albania\",\"description\":\"Top stories in Albania, Kosovo and the Balkans\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Euronews Albania\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-mobile-euronews-albania-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-mobile-euronews-albania-1.png\",\"width\":280,\"height\":33,\"caption\":\"Euronews Albania\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/euronews.al\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/euronewsalbania\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/444d280f35e047949b7f0bc08093608f\",\"name\":\"Nen Si\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/euronews.al\/en\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/author\/nensi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku - Euronews Albania","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku - Euronews Albania","og_description":"The Basic Court in Pristina has acquitted Skenderaj Mayor Sami Lushtaku of all charges related to witness intimidation. Lushtaku, a senior figure in Kosovo&#8217;s Democratic Party (PDK), had been indicted in the &#8220;Drenica 1&#8221; case alongside seven other defendants. Presiding Judge Leon P\u00ebrlaska said that the court found insufficient evidence during the trial to prove [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/","og_site_name":"Euronews Albania","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/euronews.al\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-28T14:50:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-28T15:41:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":576,"height":347,"url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nen Si","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@euronewsalbania","twitter_site":"@euronewsalbania","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nen Si","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/"},"author":{"name":"Nen Si","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/444d280f35e047949b7f0bc08093608f"},"headline":"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku","datePublished":"2026-07-28T14:50:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-28T15:41:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/"},"wordCount":112,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg","articleSection":["Albania","Latest news"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/","url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/","name":"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku - Euronews Albania","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-28T14:50:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-28T15:41:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/images-19.jpg","width":576,"height":347},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/court-dismisses-all-witness-intimidation-charges-against-sami-lushtaku\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Court Dismisses All Witness Intimidation Charges Against Sami Lushtaku"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/","name":"Euronews Albania","description":"Top stories in Albania, Kosovo and the Balkans","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#organization","name":"Euronews Albania","url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-mobile-euronews-albania-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/logo-mobile-euronews-albania-1.png","width":280,"height":33,"caption":"Euronews Albania"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/euronews.al\/","https:\/\/x.com\/euronewsalbania"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/444d280f35e047949b7f0bc08093608f","name":"Nen Si","sameAs":["http:\/\/euronews.al\/en"],"url":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/author\/nensi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85674,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85672\/revisions\/85674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}