Kosovo Activist’s Lawyer: Swiss Experts Deprived of Evidence

Kosovo's Forensic Agency did not conduct a thorough forensic examination, so the Swiss institute that then conducted a separate autopsy had little evidence to work on, the lawyer for the family of the late Astrit Dehari said in an interview for Kosovo's T7 network.

Tome Gashi's statement came after the autopsy report, done by the Lausanne Institute of Forensic Medicine, became public on Thursday, and concluded that Dehari could have been killed.

Casting doubt on "the hypothesis of a suicide", it said "the intervention of a third person in the fatal process should be considered".

Despite not having been provided much evidence, the Lausanne Institute said it found new evidence on the surface of the late activist's watch.

The report also said other "potential DNA profiles could be found even in other samples not examined by Kosovo's Forensic Agency", which had claimed it did not have enough samples to complete a DNA profile.

The report also said: "The envelopes supposed to contain Mr Dehari Astrit's nails arrived empty," noting that the nails "might have been fully used in the examination of Kosovo's Forensic Agency".

In a press conference held after the report became public, officials from the Vetevendosje party - to which Dehari belonged - which came first in parliamentary elections held in in Kosovo on October 6, claimed Dehari was killed because of his political activities.

Party officials Sami Kurteshi and Albulena Haxhiu called for the Basic Prosecution in Prizren to be removed from the investigation due to their "loss of credibility", and called for the Kosovo Special Prosecution to get involved.

Vetevendosje also demanded an investigation into "those who regardless of the pain of the family, friends and the...