Gusia: The first violation against Arlinda Zekaj occurred at the Center for Social Work; wait for Kurti’s report due within 52 hours

Edi Gusia, executive director of the Agency for Gender Equality within the Office of the Prime Minister, called for the investigation into Arlinda Zekaj’s killing to include all the institutions involved, not just the Police and the Prosecution.

Speaking on the “Debat Plus” program, Gusia described Arlinda as a symbol of courage and urged people not to exploit her death for political revenge. She also spoke about the number of women killed in Kosovo, stressing that this remains a worrying phenomenon.

“Arlinda is an extraordinary example of courage and has taught all of Kosovo’s society a great lesson. Beyond my duty and the fact that I am a woman living here, I want us, together with the citizens of Kosovo and our guests, to pause and not use the death of a woman for any kind of political revenge, because it gets us nowhere,” Gusia said.

According to her, 20 women were killed between 2018 and 2022 in circumstances that included key elements of femicide. She added that more than 90 women have been killed in Kosovo over the past two decades, while eight cases have been recorded this year.

Gusia noted that institutional responsibility for the case of Arlinda Zekaj must be examined in its entirety. She singled out the Center for Social Work, alleging that the first violation against the victim began there.

“Negligence and a lack of accountability are not confined to one link in the chain. The Police and the Prosecution are rightly mentioned, but many other institutions were also involved. First is the Center for Social Work, where custody of the child was given to the abusive father. This is where the situation began to escalate, because a minor child should not be left with an abuser, but with the mother. This was the first violation against Arlinda,” she said.

She also raised the question of whether Arlinda had received support from victim advocates or free legal aid. According to Gusia, protective measures should also have been taken against other people who might have posed a danger to her.

“The position of victim advocates is entirely absent from this institutional chain. We do not know whether Arlinda received their support or free legal aid. Our agency does not handle cases, but a protection order can cover all family members of a spouse or former spouse who pose a threat. The prosecutor should have issued a protection order against the brother-in-law. When the Police went there and he did not open the door, the Prosecution should have issued the order immediately, while the other family members who are not part of the immediate family should have been made to leave the house. It makes no sense to force the victim to live with the rest of her former husband’s family,” Gusia said.

In conclusion, Gusia called for people to wait for the case assessment report, for which Prime Minister Albin Kurti had set a deadline of 52 hours.

“I am only asking that we wait for the report, for which Prime Minister Albin Kurti has set a 52-hour deadline, and see an objective assessment of what happened. This is not the first time that women who were killed had sent a letter,” she said.