On July 10, Arlinda Zekaj reported to the police that her former husband, Jeton Sylaj, had a licensed firearm and that she felt threatened by him. However, the gun was not checked at the time. After the murder, a weapon was found in Sylaj’s home, according to a report by the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor obtained by Betimi për Drejtësi.
During her statement at the Peja Police Station, Zekaj said that Sylaj had threatened to kill her and had forced her out of the house. Regarding the weapon, she said: “Yes, Jetoni possesses a licensed firearm. No, he has never threatened me with a weapon. I do not know where the weapon is. But I feel very much at risk from Jetoni.”
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Qëndrim Sheremeti, an investigator with the Kosovo Police Inspectorate, informed the duty prosecutor, Sadije Muriqi, about the statement. However, according to the KPI, no concrete action was taken regarding the weapon.
“Despite this, regarding the statement that the suspect possessed a weapon, no concrete action had been taken to seize the weapon,” the Police Inspectorate’s report says.
Prosecutor Ersan Qavolli, the national coordinator for domestic violence at the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, writes that the weapon was neither checked in the system nor at Sylaj’s home. According to him, Peja’s chief prosecutor was also aware of the matter.
“This shows that the issue of the weapon mentioned by the victim was not addressed; it was not initially verified through the system whether Jeton Sylaj possessed a licensed weapon; his home was not searched to determine whether there was a weapon there; and other important issues were not addressed. After the critical incident, it emerged that a weapon had been found in Jeton Sylaj’s home. Peja Basic Prosecution Office Chief Prosecutor Lumturije Vuçetaj was also aware of all these circumstances.”
The report cites the Law on Weapons, under which domestic violence and a criminal investigation may constitute a risk to public order and grounds for seizing a weapon and revoking its license. A case for threatening behavior had been opened against Sylaj in July, while the indictment was filed on October 23.
The report does not clarify whether the weapon found in Sylaj’s home was connected to the murder. Albert Sylaj, Arlinda Zekaj’s brother-in-law, is suspected of her murder and, according to the report by Peja’s chief prosecutor, struck her with a hard object.
“I also assess that, although the weapon was reported in July 2026, it should have been checked,” the national coordinator concludes.
