According to the decision compiled on March 4, 2026, the Appeal rejected as unfounded the complaints of the Basic Prosecution in Peja, the injured party, as well as the defense of the accused, confirming the judgment of the Basic Court in Peja, by which Arton Duraku was sentenced to a unique sentence of 5 years and 6 months of imprisonment, while Nezir Duraku to 10 months of imprisonment.

“Rejected as the appeals of the Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Peja, the authorized representative of the injured party, Mr. E.Sh., and the defendant, Mr. Shefqet Ibrahimi, and the accused, Mr. Nezir Duraku, while the judgment of the Basic Court of Justice in Peja, PKR. no. 22/2025, is confirmed. the decision of the Appeal, reports the “Oath of Justice” Klankosova.tv broadcasts.

The prosecution had requested the change of the judgment and the imposition of harsher penalties, claiming that there were procedural violations, incorrect verification of the factual situation and incorrect application of the criminal law. Likewise, the representative of the victim’s family and the injured party E.Sh.

On the other hand, Arton Duraku’s defense had requested a reduction of the sentence for the first offense and acquittal for the second offense, while Nezir Duraku had requested acquittal or the return of the case to a retrial.

The Appellate Panel, composed of judges Mentor Hajra, Xhevdet Abazi and Valbona Musliu-Selimaj, assessed that the judgment of the first instance does not contain an essential violation of the criminal procedure, that the factual situation has been fully and fairly established and that there was no violation of the criminal law.

According to the Appeal, the Basic Court has given sufficient and convincing reasons for the requalification of criminal offenses from the form of eventual intent to that of negligence. This conclusion is mainly based on the traffic super-expertise, which found that Arton Duraku had taken actions to avoid the accident, but the collision had occurred due to exceeding the speed and passing into the opposite lane.

Regarding the criminal offenses of failure to provide assistance, the Appeal has assessed that retraining in the basic form of these offenses is fair, as the forensic expert has determined that the victim died within a very short time from massive bleeding. For this reason, according to the court, the conditions for the qualified form of criminal offenses have not been met.

In the reasoning of the decision, it is emphasized that, although the accused had seen the victim alive and had heard his calls for help, the eventual help would not have had a saving effect due to the nature of the injuries.

As for the punishments, the Appeal has assessed that they are proportional to the circumstances of the case. The fact that the accused had not been convicted before were taken into account as mitigating circumstances, while the young age of the victim, the fact that he was the father of a minor child, leaving the scene without offering help and attempts to hide the criminal offense were considered as aggravating circumstances.

For Nezir Durak, as an additional aggravating circumstance, the high degree of intent to commit the criminal offense, leaving the scene and efforts to hide the case after the accident.

Meanwhile, the complaint of the injured E.Sh. for other grounds of appeal, except for the decision on the sentence, it was dismissed as impermissible based on article 381 paragraph 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The case had gone through several judicial stages. In the first trial, Arton and Nezir Duraku were sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison. This decision was confirmed by the Appeal, but then it was canceled by the Supreme Court, which returned the case to a retrial.

After several retrial procedures, the Basic Court in Peja on November 4, 2025 sentenced Arton Duraku to 5 years and 6 months of imprisonment, while Nezir Duraku to 10 months of imprisonment, sentences that have already been confirmed by the Court of Appeal.

According to the indictment, the accident had happened on November 21, 2022 in the village of Jashanicë in Klina. Arton Duraku, without a driver’s license, was driving an unregistered and technically irregular truck, speeding over the permitted limit. He had crossed into the opposite lane and hit the “Opel” vehicle driven by police cadet F.Sh. with the trailer of the truck, who died as a result of his injuries.

According to the indictment, after the accident, Arton and Nezir Duraku got out of the truck, approached the victim, but did not offer help and left the scene.

Source: prizrenpost