Mother and two daughters say they went to Syria to serve their husbands

Mother Shyhrete Tafaj, along with her two daughters, Meke Tafaj and Valdete Tafaj-Dacaj, have pleaded guilty to criminal acts related to terrorism.

The three indictees have been found guilty of the criminal act of organising and participating in a terrorist group, at the initial session, held Wednesday at the Constitutional Court in Pristina.

In this hearing, the accused have claimed they have not been aware that war was taking place in Syria but that, according to them, there they have gone to serve their husbands.

Special prosecutor Merita Bina-Rugova has stated that she considers the admission of guilt done with free will and that it should be accepted as such.

Even the defenders of the accused, for Meke Tafaj, lawyer Besmira Hoti, for Valdete Tafaj-Dachaj, lawyer Vjosa Bytyqi and for Shyrete Tafaj, lawyer Bedrie Rexhepi have backed the plea on the part of their defenders and have demanded that guilty plea be taken as a facilitating circumstance.

Following the approval of the plea, Judge Albina Shabani-Rama has announced that the plea will take place on January 17, 2020, at 10:00.

According to the indictment, filed on December 9th 2019 by the Special Prosecutor of the Republic of Kosovo (PSRK), Meke Tafaj, Valdete Tafaj-Dachaj and Shyhrete Tafaj, are charged with deliberately participating in terrorist activity, in the way they have gone to Syria and joined the terrorist organisation I SIS.

As stated in the indictment, after the accused's husband, Meke Tafaj, accused Ramiz Kastrati had been in Syria and had returned for a short time, the entire family has decided to join the war in “the Islamic State”.

According to the indictment, Valdete Tafaj-Dacaj, with her husband, Kujtim Dachaj and the little girl, on October 5, 2014, across the border of Hani of Elez, have driven to Skopje, where they first traveled to Turkey and then to Syria.

The indictment reportedly accused Shyhrete Tafaj, the mother of two indictees Valdete and Meke Tafaj, on September 21, 2015, along with her two sons, through Pristina airport have gone to Turkey and then Syria.

According to the indictment, each separately, using the regular monthly amount of money from I SIS, they've offered logistical services to men of the family who have actively fought until I The SIS has suffered defeat and have been forced to surrender to Kurdish forces, then with the help of the American Army, have returned to Kosovo on May 24, 2019.

With this, each separately, they are tasked with criminal work “organising and participating in terrorist group”, from Article 143, paragraph 2 of the Republic of Kosovo Criminal Code. /Betimy for Justice