Fifteen years after Diana Kastrati was killed in Prishtina, the city’s Basic Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment in absentia against A.J., the suspect in her killing.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed to Radio Free Europe that the indictment was filed on October 22, 2026. A.J. is also charged with the criminal offense of “unauthorized ownership, control or possession of weapons.”
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It has not been disclosed what developments after a decade and a half led to the indictment being filed at this time. According to previous reports, the accused was in Spain, and Kosovo’s authorities had encountered difficulties securing his extradition.
Radio Free Europe asked the prosecutor’s office for clarification about the delay, the progress of the investigation and the accused’s current whereabouts, but had received no response by the time of publication.
The Basic Court in Prishtina had not yet confirmed whether it had received the indictment or what stage the judicial proceedings had reached.
Kastrati’s case has been cited as an example of institutions’ failure to protect women from violence in Kosovo. She was killed 22 days after asking the court for emergency protection. The court did not address her request, and the Constitutional Court later ruled that its inaction violated the right to life.
The killing after an unanswered request for protection
Diana Kastrati was 27 when she was killed in Prishtina on May 18, 2011. Court documents state that she was shot in the neck. Her former partner, A.J., with whom she had lived for more than ten years and had a daughter, was suspected of the killing.
According to a 2013 judgment by Kosovo’s Constitutional Court, Diana filed a lawsuit against A.J. on January 17, 2011, seeking to dissolve their nonmarital partnership after their relationship deteriorated. She then moved into her parents’ home with her daughter.
On April 26, alleging that she and her daughter had been threatened, Diana applied to the Municipal Court in Prishtina for an emergency protection order. The law required the court to rule within 24 hours, but her request went unanswered.
The killing took place 22 days later. Her parents, Gëzim and Makfire Kastrati, subsequently began a lengthy legal battle over the court’s inaction.
Constitutional Court found a violation of the right to life
In April 2012, Diana’s parents petitioned the Constitutional Court, arguing that the Municipal Court in Prishtina had violated their daughter’s fundamental rights through its inaction. In February 2013, the Constitutional Court ruled in their favor.
The court found that the Municipal Court had failed to fulfill its legal obligations to consider Diana’s request for emergency protection. According to the ruling, this constituted a violation of the right to life under Article 25 of Kosovo’s Constitution and Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Constitutional Court also found a violation of the right to legal remedies, guaranteed by Articles 32 and 54 of Kosovo’s Constitution, as well as Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment also mentions a disciplinary measure taken against the judge who had handled the request.
Parents sought compensation from the state
Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling, Gëzim and Makfire Kastrati continued their efforts to secure institutional accountability. In November 2013, they filed a lawsuit against the responsible institutions, seeking compensation for the nonmaterial damage caused by their daughter’s killing and the authorities’ failure to protect her.
In 2019, the Basic Court in Prizren ordered the Republic of Kosovo to pay the parents 95,000 euros for emotional suffering. Following an appeal by the State Attorney’s Office, the Court of Appeals reduced the compensation to 30,000 euros in February 2023.
The appeals ruling stipulated that the Kosovo Judicial Council and the Government of Kosovo were jointly and severally liable for paying the amount.
Extradition from Spain remained an obstacle
For years, proceedings in the case were hampered by the inability to extradite the suspect from Spain. In May 2022, the organization QIKA announced that the Ministry of Justice and the Basic Prosecutor’s Office in Prishtina had confirmed Spain’s refusal to extradite him to Kosovo.
QIKA also reported that the prosecutor’s office had suspended the investigation. Spain is one of five European Union member states that do not recognize Kosovo’s independence.
The newly filed indictment marks a fresh development in a case that has had no criminal resolution for 15 years. However, the indictment does not establish the accused’s guilt: he is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final court judgment.
Indictment follows another killing that shocked Kosovo
The announcement of the indictment against A.J. comes amid widespread reactions in Kosovo to the killing of Arlinda Zekaj in Peja on October 25. Her former brother-in-law is suspected of the crime. Zekaj had also sought protection from institutions, warning that her life was in danger.
Preliminary findings by the Kosovo Police Inspectorate (IPK) identified several shortcomings in the handling of the case. According to the Inspectorate, police had not documented the enforcement of the protection order issued on September 7, while another order, dated October 16, had been enforced six days late.
The IPK also said that police leaders in Peja had failed to address an investigator’s request to reassess the risk and increase security measures for Zekaj.
Following the killing, several police officers and prosecutors were suspended. On October 30, Kosovo Police Director General Gazmend Hoxha resigned, describing his decision as an expression of moral responsibility.
Kosovo’s Assembly has also established a parliamentary inquiry committee to examine institutions’ actions and failures to act in connection with the case.
