Born and raised in the village of Karač, Vushtrri, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (modern day Kosovo), Ademi graduated from the Yugoslav Military Academy in Belgrade in 1976.

[2] In 1993 he was assigned to the post of sub commander of the Gospić military district, but was relieved of duty later that year, after the controversial Operation Medak pocket.

In 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicted Ademi for crimes against humanity allegedly committed against the Croatian Serbs in the Medak pocket.

[3] Ademi claims that the Croatian government, under international pressure, relieved him of duty in Gospić in 1993 in order to make him a scapegoat, rather than implicating commanding officers Janko Bobetko,[3] Mirko Norac and Mladen Markač.

On 30 May 2008, he was acquitted by the Zagreb County Court of responsibility for atrocities committed against Serb prisoners by Croat troops during Operation Medak Pocket.