Supreme Court: Final verdict in the murder of Šejla Bakija

The Supreme Court of Montenegro rejected as unfounded the appeal of the defense counsel of the accused Ilir Đokaj and upheld the verdict of the Court of Appeal of Montenegro of November 28, 2024.

By the verdict of the Higher Court in Podgorica in April 2024, which was confirmed by the verdict of the Court of Appeal of Montenegro in November of the same year, Đokaj was found guilty of committing the criminal offense of aggravated murder of the injured party Šejla Baki, in conjunction with the criminal offense of attempted murder in relation to the injured party Šaban Baki and the criminal offense of illegal possession of weapons and explosives.

Đokaj was sentenced to a single long-term prison sentence of 40 years for committing criminal offenses, which includes the time he spent in detention from October 4, 2021 onwards.

"The Supreme Court assessed that the actions of the accused constituted elements of the aforementioned criminal offenses, finding that the imposition of the most severe sentence, namely a sentence of long-term imprisonment of 40 (forty) years, as a single sentence, is justified, which is in all respects proportionate to the gravity of the criminal offenses and the degree of guilt of the accused, and represents the measure that is necessary to achieve the purpose of punishment, namely that it will influence the accused, as well as others, not to commit criminal offenses in the future," the Supreme Court announced.