A Kosovo court has again sentenced former intelligence chief Driton Gashi to more than four years in prison for his role in the illegal deportation of six Turkish nationals to Turkey in 2018, ruling that he exceeded his official authority in the controversial operation, Turkish Minute reported, citing the Koha.net news website.
The Basic Court of Pristina on Tuesday handed down the same sentence it had issued in 2023, following a retrial ordered by the Appeals Court. Gashi, the former head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), was convicted of “abuse of official duty.”
In addition to the prison sentence, the court banned him from holding public office for four years after serving his time.
The verdict is not final and may be appealed within 30 days, according to Koha.net.
Announcing the ruling, Judge Violeta Namani Hajra said Gashi had “exceeded his powers by forcibly deporting Turkish citizens from Kosovo and handing them over to the Turkish authorities.”
The Balkan Insight news website also quoted the judge as saying, “Through his actions, Gashi violated standard procedures and instruments of human rights. … By deporting Turkish nationals, he has exposed them to a real danger of torture, physical mistreatment.”
The case concerns the March 29, 2018, detention and deportation of five teachers — Kahraman Demirez, Mustafa Erdem, Hasan Hüseyin Günakan, Yusuf Karabina and Cihan Özkan — and cardiology professor Osman Karakaya.
The teachers were employed at the “Mehmet Akif” schools, linked to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup in July 2016 and labels it as a terrorist organization. The movement strongly denies any involvement in the failed putsch or terrorist activity.
According to court findings, Gashi submitted requests to Kosovo’s Interior Ministry on March 23 and March 28, 2018, seeking the revocation of residence permits for five of the men and the rejection of another’s pending application on the grounds that they posed a threat to national security, claims the court said were not substantiated under the KIA law.
The operation triggered political turmoil in Kosovo. Then–prime minister Ramush Haradinaj said the deportations had taken place without his knowledge, and Gashi was dismissed from his post shortly afterward.
A report published by a Kosovo parliamentary commission in February 2019 had found that 31 violations of laws and procedures took place during the deportation. Members of the parliamentary commission authoring the report accused former president Hashim Thaci of being behind the incident.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) concluded in September 2021 that the arrest, detention and forced transfer to Turkey of the teachers by Kosovar and Turkish state agents were arbitrary and in violation of international human rights norms and standards.
The six Turkish nationals were later prosecuted in Turkey on terrorism-related charges. Turkish courts sentenced them to a total of more than 56 years in prison. Most received eight-year sentences, while Erdem, director of the “Gulistan” educational institution in Kosovo, was sentenced to 15 years, Koha.net reported.
The “Mehmet Akif” schools in Kosovo are operated by the Gulistan Educational Institution, which runs kindergartens, preschools, primary and secondary schools across the country.
Over the last decade Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen, who died in 2024, and his movement, which in the past had been praised by the Turkish government for their activities in education and inter-religious and intercultural dialogue, have faced various accusations from the government, including masterminding corruption investigations in 2013 and a coup attempt in July 2016.
The Turkish government labeled Gülen and his movement as “terrorists” in May 2016.
Gülen and his followers have strongly denied any involvement in the coup or any terrorist activities but have been the subject of a harsh crackdown for a decade, which intensified in the aftermath of the abortive putsch.
In the original 2023 ruling, two other senior officials tried along with Gashi were acquitted.
The Appeals Court later ordered a retrial limited to the charge concerning Gashi. Tuesday’s decision marks the second time the court has found the former intelligence chief criminally responsible for the 2018 deportations.
