Man Arrested for Secret Sexual Surveillance at Harvard’s Hemenway Gym

The Harvard University Police Department arrested Sokol Zejnullahu on charges of secret sexual surveillance at Harvard’s Hemenway Gym earlier this month.

Zejnullahu, 41, faces one felony charge of photographing and disseminating a photo of an unsuspecting nude person and one misdemeanor charge for photographing an unsuspecting nude person. He pleaded not guilty to both counts.

“It was inadvertent and accidental and I believe that will be shown at a later time,” Zejnullahu’s attorney Elliot R. Levine said in a Monday interview with The Crimson.

According to HUPD logs, officers responded to a report of peeping and spying on the afternoon of Nov. 16.

“During the field interview, the suspect engaged in uncooperative behavior and began yelling at the officer,” the department wrote. Zejnullahu was then arrested, transported to the Cambridge Police Department, and given a trespass warning for all Harvard University property.

HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano declined to comment on the incident, citing department policy not to comment on ongoing court cases. Management for Hemenway Gym, which is located on Harvard’s campus near the Harvard Law School, also declined to comment on the incident.

Staff at the Cambridge District Court declined to share the police record of the arrest with The Crimson, citing a Nov. 18 court order to impound and redact court documents related to the case.

Zejnullahu and his three siblings fled the Republic of Kosovo in 1999 and were taken in as foster children by former Lowell House Faculty Deans Diana L. Eck and Dorothy A. Austin. Eck still recognizes Zejnullahu as her foster son on a curriculum vitae document available on Harvard’s website.

Eck, a professor at the Divinity School, did not respond to a comment request on Zejnullahu’s arrest.

Zejnullah will remain in jail for 90 days with no bail. According to court documents, he will receive mental health treatment and have his status reviewed in a hearing in early December.

— Staff writer Sally E. Edwards can be reached at sally.edwards@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @sallyedwards04 or on Threads @sally_edwards06.

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @asherjmont or on Threads @asher_montgomery.