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Violence at the Royal Court/ The Court's decision is revealed: The fight started over a closet between Gjergj Zaharia and Prince Leka! Here's why Elia was acquitted

2025-01-22 22:23:22 / AKTUALITET ALFA PRESS

Violence at the Royal Court/ The Court's decision is revealed: The fight

The Tirana Court sentenced Prince Leka Zogu yesterday (January 21) to 1 year in prison, in connection with the violence in the royal palace, an event that occurred in March 2024. Due to the summary trial, the sentence was reduced to 8 months and suspended to 16 months of probation, for the charge of "domestic violence".

Report TV and Shqiptarja.com have the decision of the Tirana Court, which highlights the fact that despite what the public saw in the video, Elia Zaharia is declared innocent and all criminal responsibility is left to Princ Lekë as the perpetrator of the violence. And the reason for the quarrel was precisely the emptying of the closet, in the debate between Princ Lekë and Gjergj Zaharia.

Elia justifies her actions as being caught off guard by the incident when she went to the apartment and found her ex-husband raping her father. She claims that she and her father were injured by Leka's push.

The decision explains the dynamics of the event and Elia Zaharia's account of the violence by her ex-husband, but what stands out is the fact that the testimony of the Court employee, Syl Mulosmanaj, was not taken into account, not considering the statement to be supported by evidence.

Judge Migena Laska sentenced Gjergj Zaharia, the father of Elia Zaharia, to 10 months, with a shortened trial reducing the sentence to 6 months and 20 days and ultimately reducing it to 1 year and 40 days on probation.

Elia Zaharia was acquitted, as the fact does not constitute a criminal offense. The three people who were charged with "domestic violence" were tried using a summary trial procedure.

But what happened in that event on March 5, 2024 inside the Royal Palace, on "Murat Toptani" Street in Tirana, as footage of a video of the violence quickly went viral in the media. On April 25, the Tirana Court decided to dissolve the marriage between Prince Leka and the famous actress.

The dynamics of the event, according to the file and the Court's decision

" With a wooden statue chasing the victim Zogu, the defendant Gjergj Zaharia appears, as he descends the stairs of the apartment with an object in his hand, completely at a distance and not in contact with any person, and it does not seem that he hit or injured Leka II Zogu with this object, we cannot accept a priori and consider it obvious or presumed that the defendant hit Leka 11 Zogu with this very object. Leka II Zogu himself has explained in his statements, in the OPGJ, that the physical violence against him was exercised by his father-in-law not in environments monitored by cameras, including his phone camera", the decision of the Tirana Court states.
The court also goes on to interpret the physical circumstances, citing that Zaharia was elderly and unable to exercise physical violence and that the incident occurred in the presence of the royal couple's minor child.

" The violence that both of these defendants simultaneously exercised against and to the detriment of each other, both verbal and physical, was certainly in proportion to the objective physical abilities and possibilities of each (because here we must take into account that Gjergj Zaharia is 73 years old, a pensioner, and has a normal height or body length, of a 73-year-old pensioner, while Leka II Zogu is around 42 years old and has a relevant height compared to his father-in-law), began in the presence of the minor child, a fact proven by the statements of citizen Syle Mulosmani, according to whom Leka II Zogu gave the girl to him to remove her from the scene, after she had started crying, a fact that Gjergj Zaharia himself admits, when he states that he asked Syl Molosmani to remove the little girl from the environment where they were arguing in the meantime", the decision states, among other things.

Contrary to what was seen in the video, all responsibility is left to Prince Leka.

The presence, fear and cries of the little girl indicate that the Prosecution has qualified as illegal the actions of the two defendants Gjergj Zaharia and Leka Zogu. Also regarding the defendant Ella Zaharia, the Court emphasizes that it "finds the Prosecution's accusation correct and based on evidence", despite the fact that at the end of the process it declared her innocent.

The file also includes dialogue of verbal violence:

"You touched my father with your hand! You shot my father, don't you feel sorry? You touched my parent, the one who supported you with bread!".
At minute 00:00:27 of the video, it is noted that during the debate, according to the file, Elia attempted to take the phone from the hands of Leka Zogu II, who was filming, and at that moment there was body-to-body contact with the prince (pushing and touching with hands).

" So Elia Zaharia did not intend (in the subjective sense) to shoot and rape Leka II Zogu. It is also apparent from the footage that she intended to stop and prevent Leka from recording the video using his phone. She was holding him accountable for the fact that she found him arguing and physically confronting her 73-year-old father, whom she had trusted to look after and care for her 3-year-old daughter, while she herself was not in the apartment," the decision states.
All of the above circumstances also prove the commission of the four elements of "domestic violence" , as provided for by Article 130/a/1 of the Criminal Code.

The court rejects the testimony of the court clerk: It is not proven! The quarrel over the emptying of the cupboard

Another interesting detail was the testimony of employee Syl Mulosmani (also seen in the video), that the defendants Elia and Gjergj Zaharia were the ones who hit Leka II Zogu, but that for the Court "there is no fact and no other evidence that proves and documents this alleged fact."

The court stands by the argument that when Elia returned home, she found the surprising scene in a "completely unexpected and surprising way, not at all premeditated by her, her ex-husband arguing and confronting her 73-year-old father, a quarrel initiated for the first time between them, just for the emptying of a closet (item, household furniture)."

"In such conditions, she simply intervened between them and reacted by demanding "accountability" from Leka Zogu for such actions," the decision on Elias's actions states.

But what does the court say about the moment of Zaharia's aggression towards her ex-husband?

" It is clear that she goes after him, demanding an account from Leka for the violence he had exercised against her father. She appears disfigured, worried, unprepared, shocked by the situation she is faced with, without knowing it beforehand. She pulls him to stop him, to hinder him in the actions he was taking with the filming, but it does not seem at all that he intends to rape her anymore. It is she who is ultimately pushed, thrown, and left on the ground alone. She and her father have not filed a criminal complaint. And they had no intention of doing this, neither she nor her father. Not intending to damage either Leka or the public image of their family, which is already known to the public ," it is underlined there, easing Elias' position.

It is further explained that it was Leka II Zogu himself, who in his statements emphasized that he "was offended and threatened by Elia". So he does not claim physical violence. During the physical confrontation and according to the evidence, it turns out that it was Gjergj Zaharia who also tore Leka's sweatshirt and not Elia.

"Therefore, this court is fully convinced that the actions specifically committed by this defendant do not constitute, in the specific circumstances, a criminal fact or offense, Article 388/1/b ," Judge Laska concludes.

In contrast, in the case of the lek, the Court states that:

"Referring to all the evidence in the file, it is proven that this defendant has exercised violence against his wife and father-in-law. The evidence on which the Prosecution has based its accusation is the statements of the defendants Elia and Gjergj Zaharia, the film footage, as well as the forensic medical examination reports of the three defendants . "

The court places the responsibility, unlike what was seen in the video, on Leka.

"Leka had every opportunity, especially with the help and assistance of his employee Syl Mulosmani, to avoid this conflicting situation together with his daughter, or even all alone, and to immediately move to a different environment, from the one where Gjergj Zaharia was staying. Especially in conditions when the relevant building/apartment, due to its sufficient space, allowed him this opportunity, this choice ," the judge in the case states.

Conclusion for the Court: Elia Zaharia is innocent, he did not use violence!

It even goes further, shifting all criminal responsibility for the act to the Prince.

"Also, the visible and pronounced physical injuries evidenced on the body of Gjergj Zaharia, document, and in total with all the facts, evidence, testimonies, indications and circumstances of this event, prove beyond reasonable doubt that Leka II Zogu has committed the criminal offenses for which he is accused by the Prosecution to the detriment of the two defendants Zaharia", it is emphasized there.

The decision also concludes with the criminal and legal conclusion, excluding Elia Zaharian from guilt and convicting the other two.

"Based on this analysis of the four basic elements that configure the legal qualification of this criminal offense, the court is convinced that in the specific case the defendant Gjergj Zaharia and Leka II Zogu have consumed the elements of the criminal offense of "Domestic Violence", committed in the presence of a 3-year-old minor child, while the defendant Elia Zaharia is not proven to have consumed the elements of this criminal offense, as well as of any other criminal offense. Therefore, she must be declared innocent by this court ," concludes the decision, which is further accompanied by the sentencing measures.

 

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