Ramabaja calls for an institutional investigation into murders of women since 2008: The tragedy of Arlinda Zekaj must not be politicized

Sadri Ramabaja has called for the murder of Arlinda Zekaj not to be turned into a tool for political clashes. The professor and political analyst is calling for institutional responsibilities to be examined and for a broader analysis of cases involving the murders of women in Kosovo.

Ramabaja believes that when a woman’s murder is preceded by reported threats and violence, the case should not be viewed solely as an individual crime. He says it is also necessary to investigate whether the institutions responsible for protecting citizens acted appropriately.

He says the country must address a persistent problem by demanding accountability not only for specific incidents, but also for how victims’ reports and warnings were handled.

“Kosovo’s problem lies not only in the number of women who have been murdered, but also in the historic absence of a credible accountability system that would tell us how many of these deaths could have been prevented. A retrospective investigation is therefore not a call for revenge against past institutions, but a necessity for reforming the state of the future,” Ramabaja says.

He proposes reviewing earlier murders of women as well, going back at least to 2008, to identify shortcomings in the handling of reports, risk assessments, and cooperation among the Police, Prosecution, courts, and social protection services.

Ramabaja names the murders of Diana Kastrati, Antigona Morina, Sebahate Morina-Sopi, and Marigona Osmani as cases that should be included in this analysis. He stresses that the circumstances differ from one case to another, but each requires a serious examination of how institutions functioned.

“We need to revisit the history of these cases. We need to investigate what happened, how reports were handled, what protective measures were taken, what decisions were made by prosecutors and courts, and, above all, whether any institutional negligence was punished,” he emphasizes.

Commenting on the opposition’s response and calls for the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Internal Affairs to resign, Ramabaja says political responsibility should be assessed in light of officials’ powers and their specific actions or failures to act.

He notes that in a parliamentary democracy, the opposition can call for resignations and initiate a vote of no confidence, but such steps should be backed by arguments and concrete proposals for solving the problem.

According to Ramabaja, there is a risk that attention could shift away from justice and institutional accountability, while the case of Arlinda Zekaj is used in a political battle to change the government.

“The question the opposition should be asked is this: if the goal is justice for the victim and protection for other women, why should the debate focus first and foremost on bringing down the government rather than on a concrete platform for investigating all the cases, identifying responsibilities, and reforming institutions?” Ramabaja says.

He stresses that the tragedy must not be used either to defend those in power or for electoral gain by the opposition. The victim’s family’s grief, he says, cannot be appropriated by either side.

Ramabaja is calling for this case to set in motion a broader institutional process involving an independent investigation, a review of past cases, and the determination of responsibilities.

“Kosovo’s interests demand that this tragedy become neither a shield for those in power nor a stepping stone for the opposition’s ambitions. It should become the starting point for a deep institutional process: an independent investigation, a retrospective audit of cases involving the murders of women since 2008, the identification of responsibilities, and the reform of protection mechanisms,” Ramabaja concludes.

According to him, justice for victims and the prevention of future cases must take priority over party-political calculations. Institutional accountability, he adds, must be applied equally to those in power and the opposition.