Posts of the national flag with crosses or other symbols above it and with inappropriate notes on the social network Facebook have cost a 33-year-old man from Kosovo a 2-year prison sentence.
The sentence against defendant Alban Bibaj was handed down a few days ago by the Tirana Court, following a trial held in his absence. Bibaj was found guilty of the criminal offense of "incitement to national hatred".
According to the court's decision, the 33-year-old drew the attention of the Anti-Terrorism Directorate of the State Police from several posts on the account named "Ubejdullah E. Subejla" on Facebook, after the November 2019 earthquake. In one of the posts, he said, among other things, that "Imams and congregations who celebrate the day of the flag of the religion of democracy have nothing to do with Tawheed (the oneness of Allah)." According to the court, he continued with other posts with statements taken from religious hadiths.
He accompanied the posts with photos of the Albanian national flag, on which was the inscription "Kufr shirk", which means denier of God, and a cross on the flag.
For the sake of the investigation, the Tirana prosecution has cooperated with the Kosovo justice authorities. Asked at the Peja Prosecution Office, in the presence of his lawyer, about the investigation against him in Albania, Alban Bibaj stated that he has been practicing Islam for 15 years and has never learned it from any preacher of the religion nor has he read in religious books that he should hate anyone or call for national hatred.
But according to Judge Edvan Veçani, the defendant's posts contain clear elements that violate public order and peace by inciting division on national and religious grounds.
"Through the use of offensive language towards national symbols, such as the Albanian flag, and statements that 'nationalism is kufr' or that 'flags are inventions of the Zionists', he has expressed positions aimed at disparaging national values and creating antagonism between religious and national identity. The content of the posts, accompanied by offensive images towards the flag, constitutes a public act of communication that is objectively capable of inciting division, hatred or hostility between citizens on the basis of national affiliation," the court reasoned.
According to the court, the defendant's intention was not only to express a religious opinion, but to incite division and opposition among citizens based on their national identity. The defendant Bibaj was investigated and tried in a maximum security prison, while the 2-year prison sentence, according to the court, should be served in a normal security prison. /A2 CNN/
