Advisor to Zaev named in Kosovo espionage indictment

The name of Viktor Petrushevski — a former adviser to then-prime minister Zoran Zaev — appeared in the indictment materials that the Special Prosecution of Kosovo filed against analyst Fatmir Sheholi, the documents state.

Activities, contacts and a document labeled „Top Secret 2“

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo on 25 August filed an indictment that alleges Sheholi was recruited by the Serbian Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) and that he collected and passed on information about political activities, the security situation and the functioning of institutions in Kosovo.

The indictment states that on 20 and 21 December 2024 there was communication via a social network between Sheholi and a contact saved as "Viktor Macedonia", during which they discussed arranging a meeting with Bojan Dimic, who they identify as an officer of the BIA.

The case also mentions that on 5 August 2025 Sheholi sent a document marked "Top Secret 2" to that contact. Some Kosovo media linked the contact to Petrushevski because of the matching name and other communications listed in the case, but in the publicly released materials there is no court decision establishing that Petrushevski was part of an intelligence network.

Petrushevski has already denied that he had any knowledge of a possible connection between Sheholi and the Serbian security services. He says that he only met him once at a meeting as the director of an institute and that he distanced himself from further communication. In January 2021 he was appointed adviser to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev for local self-government, and in the case reports he is also mentioned as a businessman from North Macedonia.

The Special Prosecution alleges that until his arrest in October 2025 Sheholi acted on tasks of officials of the BIA and collected documents and information of interest to the Serbian intelligence service. In addition to the espionage charges, he is also accused of extortion, from which, according to the indictment, he demanded more than €13,000 from a person from Kosovo.

The case is before the Basic Court in Pristina and the first hearing is scheduled for 7 September.

Photo: press material from the event