Hated with insulting posts on flag, sentenced to two years in Kosovo prison

The sentence against indictees Alban Bibaj was handed down a few days ago by the Court of Tirana, at the conclusion of a trial carried out in his absence. Bibaj has been found guilty of the criminal offence of “calling for national hatred”.

According to the court ruling, the 33-year-old has attracted the attention of the Anti-Terror Directorate in the State Police from several posts in the account under the name “Ubejdullah E. Subiment” Facebook, following the November 2019 earthquake. In one of the posts, he said, among other things, that “Hours and jammats celebrating the day of the flag of the religion of democracy are not related to Teuhin (Eunciple of Allah)”. According to the court, he has followed other posts with statements removed from the religious Hadith.

The posters have accompanied pictures of the Albanian national flag, in which it had the inscription “Confrost Shirk”, which implies unbelievers of God and a cross on the flag.

On account of the investigation, the Tirana prosecution has co-operated with Kosovo justice authorities. Asked at the Peja Prosecutor's Office, in the presence of the lawyer, for his investigation into Albania, Alban Bibaj has declared that he has been practicing Islam for 15 years and has never learned from any preacher of religion, nor has he read it in religious books that he should hate anyone or appeal to national hatred.

But according to the assessment of Judge Edvan vetan, the defendants' posts contain clear elements that violate public order and peace by promoting division on national and religious grounds.

“Through the use of insulting language against national symbols, such as the Albanian flag, and statements that nationalism is corroding or that flags are the invention of the parasitics, he has expressed attitudes aimed at contempt of national values and the creation of antagonism between religious and national identity. The content of the posts, accompanied by offensive images against the flag, constitutes a public act of communication that is objectively capable of promoting division, hatred or hostility between citizens on the basis of national belonging”, the court argued, reports a2 CNN, broadcast Periscope.

According to the tribunal, the defendant's purpose has not only been to express a religious opinion, but to promote division and independence among citizens on the basis of their national identity. The defendant Bibaj has been investigated and deemed extremely secure, while the two-year prison sentence, according to the tribunal, should be placed in a common security prison. /Periscope/