Behajdin Allaqi, a professor from Prizren and political activist, disappeared in June 1998. The circumstances of his disappearance remained unclear for years.
On September 16, 2026, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, in the first instance verdict against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selim, found that Allaqi was killed after Thaçi and Veseli had taken him handcuffed from the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) headquarters in Drenoc, Rahovec.
The defense of Thaçi, the former president of Kosovo, has objected to the way the court handled the case, saying that while the conclusions about Allaqi's murder were made public, the evidence remained confidential.
Who was Behajdin Allaqi?
Behajdin Allaqi was born on April 7, 1963 in Prizren.
Allaq's life and work were recounted by his family to the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo (HLC), an organization that deals with transitional justice.
According to his family's account, he had graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Pristina, and lectured on sociology and philosophy in Prizren, while he was constantly committed to the freedom and independence of Kosovo.
Allaqi was part of the People's Movement for the Republic of Kosovo (LPRK), and is considered a martyr of the KLA.
In 2015, the then-president of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, decorated Allaq as a Hero of Kosovo.
According to Kosovo law, this decoration "is awarded to persons who have performed acts of sacrifice and bravery for the freedom and independence of Kosovo."
Radio Free Europe attempted to contact members of the Allaqi family for an interview, but received no response to any of the messages sent.
1993: The “Dispute” with Thaçi and Syla
According to the summary of the Specialist Chambers' judgment, in 1993 Allaqi had a "serious disagreement with Thaçi and Azem Syla", who accused him of bringing to the LPRK a person they suspected of being a Serbian spy.
The trial panel also found that, prior to his disappearance in 1998, Allaqi was under surveillance by the KLA intelligence service and that Thaçi and Veseli had requested to be notified of his presence at the KLA headquarters in Drenoc.
June 11, 1998: Allaqi is seen for the last time
According to the account of his wife, Nazmije Allaqi, in the “Kosovo Memory Book 1998-2000”, a publication of the Humanitarian Law Center that documents persons killed and missing during the war, Allaqi was last seen on June 11, 1998 in Prizren.
Ajo kishte thënë se Behajdin Allaqi kishte shkuar në drejtim të Shtabit të UÇK-së në fshatin Drenoc të Rahovecit, dhe nga aty ishte nisur drejt Shtabit të Përgjithshëm të UÇK-së, që në atë kohë ishte në zonën e Drenicës.
Pas kësaj date, nuk ka të dhëna publike se Allaqi është parë i gjallë.
Çfarë konstatoi Gjykata Speciale?
Sipas përmbledhjes së aktgjykimit të 16 shtatorit 2026, Allaqi kishte shkuar në shtabin në Drenoc rreth 11 qershorit 1998. Trupi gjykues konstatoi se Thaçi dhe Veseli kishin mbërritur më vonë dhe e kishin marrë Allaqin të prangosur.
Allaqi nuk u pa më, ndërsa trupi gjykues arriti në përfundimin se ai ishte vrarë.
Në përmbledhjen e aktgjykimit nuk bëhen publike të gjitha provat mbi të cilat është mbështetur ky konstatim.
1 nëntor 1998: Komunikata e UÇK-së
Më 1 nëntor 1998, Shtabi i Përgjithshëm i UÇK-së publikoi Komunikatën Nr. 61, në të cilën thuhej se Behajdin Allaqi kishte rënë dëshmor në betejë. Trupi gjykues i Dhomave të Specializuara e cilësoi këtë komunikatë si përpjekje për të fshehur atë që kishte ndodhur me Allaqin.
Sipas gjykatës, pas luftës Thaçi, Veseli dhe Azem Syla u përpoqën gjithashtu ta bindnin familjen e Allaqit, përmes ryshfeteve dhe premtimeve, që të hiqte dorë nga kërkimi i drejtësisë. Gjykata tha se familja i kishte refuzuar këto oferta.
Aktgjykimi është i shkallës së parë dhe mund të apelohet.
Të dhënat e dokumentuara pas luftës
Në fillim të viteve 2000, sipas një dokumenti të publikuar në media pas aktgjykimit të Dhomave të Specializuara, Nazmije Allaqi thuhet se kishte raportuar tek organet e UNMIK-ut se bashkëshorti i saj ishte “marrë nga policia serbe”.
Në një përgjigje për Radion Evropa e Lirë, UNMIK-u nuk ka komentuar vërtetësinë e dokumentit, duke thënë se është i kufizuar në atë që mund të thotë, “duke pasur parasysh transferimin e kompetencave dhe të dosjeve” te autoritetet pasardhëse, ndërkombëtare e vendëse.
Nazmije Allaqi i kishte thënë hulumtuesve të Fondit për të Drejtën Humanitare në Kosovë (FDHK) se “Selim Krasniqi dhe Bedri Zyberaj kishin dijeni për rrëmbimin [e Allaqit]”.
Radio Evropa e Lirë kontaktoi të Krasniqin e Zyberajn, që të dy ish-pjesëtarë të UÇK-së, në lidhje me rastin. Krasniqi tha shkurt se nuk ka njohuri, ndërkaq deri në publikimin e këtij artikulli, Radio Evropa e Lirë nuk ka arritur të marrë koment nga Zyberaj.
Rrëfimi në librin “Syri i Shqiponjës”
Rasti i Allaqit përmendet edhe në librin “Syri i Shqiponjës” të ish-pjesëtarit të UÇK-së, Ilaz Kadolli.
Në libër, zhdukja e Allaqit përshkruhet si “likuidim pa gjyq”, për të cilin, sipas autorit, “Shtabi i Përgjithshëm i UÇK-së mban përgjegjësi politike, morale dhe ligjore”.
Libri i Kadollit u pranua si provë me kërkesë të Zyrës së Prokurorit të Specializuar, sipas një vendimi të vitit 2025 të Dhomave të Specializuara.
However, it is not clear from public documents whether the part of the book dealing with Allaqi's case was among the materials on which the trial panel specifically relied for its findings about the murder.
Asked if he had been invited to testify in the Allaqi case, Kadolli told Radio Free Europe that he had declined to testify "due to his health condition."
The chapter regarding the disappearance of Behajdin Allaq in the book "Eagle's Eye" by Ilaz Kadolli.
What does the defense say?
Thaçi's lawyer, Lluka Mishetić, wrote on the social platform X that the trial panel had publicly linked his client to the murder of Allaqi, even though it had previously ordered all parties not to discuss Allaqi's case in a public court session.
“The trial panel has publicly declared Thaçi guilty of a murder, while simultaneously keeping the evidence on which it based this conclusion away from public scrutiny. Thaçi would welcome such a public scrutiny of the evidence,” Misetic said on September 17, the day after the verdict in The Hague.
Thaçi's other lawyer, Pierre-Richard Prosper, also opposed the publication of the conclusions without the information to support them in an interview on Klan Kosova television. He said that the defense had information and questions about the case, but was not allowed to discuss them publicly.
Asked by Radio Free Europe about the Allaq case, the Specialist Prosecutor's Office in The Hague said it "will not comment on materials that have not been made public."
Was Allaq's disappearance ever investigated in Kosovo?
After the war in Kosovo, in the early 2000s, UNMIK had full executive and judicial powers.
This mission has not commented on the Allaqi case, and whether it initiated investigations into him during the time it was competent, namely until 2008, when Kosovo declared independence.
“Previous UNMIK files related to criminal investigations and prosecutions were transferred to [the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo] EULEX in 2008, and may have been subsequently transferred to the competent Kosovo authorities. UNMIK does not comment on individual cases that are the subject of judicial proceedings before independent courts,” UNMIK’s response to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said.
On the other hand, even EULEX, which took over after UNMIK, did not comment on whether it had ever handled Allaqi's case.
"Due to the end of EULEX's executive mandate in the justice system in 2018, the cases and files handled by EULEX were handed over to the Kosovo authorities," the mission's response to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said.
The Kosovo Special Prosecution Office has not responded to the question of whether there were ever any investigations within the Kosovo legal system regarding the case of Behajdin Allaqi, before he was treated in The Hague. /Taken from Radio Free Europe
