“Repentant” Kosovo woman who joined ISIS pleads guilty

Gazeta Express

14/01/2020 13:44

A Kosovo-born woman who is the widow of an ISIS fighter has pleaded guilty to join the terrorist organisation of ISIS in Syria.

The woman identified as Edona Berisha, during initial hearing at the Basic Court in Pristina has pleaded guilty of joining ISIS claiming that she went there to be close to her children. “I plead guilty on this criminal charge. I am guilty. My aim was to be close to my children, after my late husband Burim Demolli went there, and asked to have children by his side, this was the reason, why I went after my children, not to leave in his hands,” Berisha said.

Berisha told the court that she tried to escape from Syria and return to Kosovo, but was stopped by the terrorist group of ISIS. “I always wanted to return to Kosovo and despite efforts to return I was caught by the ISIS who have stopped me, but now I feel god that I have returned in my country together with my children,” she said. Her lawyer asked the panel of judges to take into consideration that her client voluntarily pleaded guilty and has repented for joining ISIS and was ready to cooperate with the rule of law authorities in Kosovo. The judgment in this case will be delivered on 15 January. The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo has on 30 December 2019 filed an indictment against Edone Berisha, accused of criminal charges “organisation and participation in a terrorist group.”

A total of 110 citizens of Kosovo were repatriated from Syria last year, of whom 74 were children, 32 were women and four were men. Nine children returned without parents because they were killed in the fighting in the Middle East. /GazetaExpress/