Martin Çeço’s murder: Appeal overturns Korçë court’s 83-year sentence, case sent back for retrial

On February 10, 2025, the Korçë Court sentenced the accused in the Martin Çeço murder case to a total of 83 years in prison, following the prosecution’s request.

However, today the General Jurisdiction Court of Appeal in Tirana overturned this decision. The appellate panel, presided over by Marsela Pepi and members Genti Dokollari and Irena Brahimi, annulled the first-instance court’s ruling and ordered the case to be retried by the same court, but with a different judicial panel.

The appeal ruling allows for a further appeal within 45 days from the day after the motivated decision is communicated. The victim’s father expressed support for the retrial in the first-instance court, hoping for full justice regarding his son’s murder.

Martin Çeço’s body was found on June 16, 2022, in the Kolaneci reservoir in Maliq. He had been reported missing by his father to the police on June 12. Signs of violence were discovered on the 26-year-old’s body, raising suspicions that he had been murdered rather than dying by other means.

Bleti Angjo, Valter Mollaj, and Edlir Mollaj are currently behind bars, accused of killing Martin Çeço. They allegedly strangled him with a rope and left his shoes by the reservoir to stage the scene as a suicide. However, the false narrative involving two women eventually unraveled, revealing that the 26-year-old had not taken his own life.

“KORÇA BOOM”