Injured party says he sent Sheholli around €200,000 after blackmail over a video’s release

At the Basic Court in Pristina, in the trial of Fatmir Sheholli, accused of espionage and blackmail, the injured party and witness Arben Jetullahu was heard on Thursday. He stated that around €200,000 had been transferred from him to the accused, following blackmail linked to the publication of a video.

Jetullahu stated that while the accused Sheholli was in detention he had asked him for money as help for his family, and so he had sent him €500, as Betimi për Drejtësi reports.

After that, according to him, the accused sent him threatening or blackmailing messages through the injured party’s associate, Lorik Retkoceri.

The witness said that from that time he had begun giving the accused a monthly salary of €1,000, totalling €13,000, and that the accused figured as his employee.

According to the witness, by this he had meant “buying peace” in relation to the non-publication of untrue news about his business, adding that those reports had damaged his personality and his business.

Jetullahu said the accused had also asked him for a sum of €60,000 as a loan to buy an apartment, promising to return the money after selling a commercial property in Podujevë, or to give him the property in ownership.

“No obligation of his toward me was ever repaid… The moment he sent me the message from detention, I felt threatened and blackmailed, because the message was threatening and blackmailing,” the injured party said.

The witness said the point of contact was always his associate Retkoceri and the accused’s son. He said he never had direct communications with the accused or his family.

He added that the blackmail was in connection with a video, and that he had been told that if the requested sums were not paid, the video would be published, but that he did not know what it could have been, although in his view it was certainly something personal.

The injured party affirmed that around €200,000 in total was transferred to the accused’s account, all of it carried out through the bank following verbal agreements.

He added that in his opinion Sheholli used the media to blackmail him, but that he has no evidence for this.

Finally, he added that he stands by the criminal prosecution and will consult his lawyer regarding compensation for the damage.