The Prime Minister’s Office sent the Parliamentary Investigative Committee the reports from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the murder of Arlinda Zekaj today, following repeated requests from the committee. The documents were delivered three days after Friday’s meeting was adjourned because the reports had not been provided. Nevertheless, today’s meeting opened with a clash between the opposition and the majority before continuing without the media present.
Committee chair Burim Ramadani, an AAK lawmaker, said the delivery marked the start of institutional cooperation on the steps needed in the case. Speaking to the media, he said the process would be transparent but acknowledged that members did not share the same views. “We have had opposing positions; we have not agreed,” Ramadani said.
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Rrahmani: Documents were delivered just one hour before the meeting
Eman Rrahmani, the PDK representative on the committee, criticized the delay in delivering the reports. He said the documents arrived about an hour before the meeting began and had not been signed by the relevant ministries, raising doubts about their validity. Rrahmani recalled that the Prime Minister’s Office had been given a three-day deadline and claimed it had not been met. He asked the chair to examine whether the failure to provide the information on time could constitute a criminal offense.
Rrahmani also accused the parliamentary majority of blocking the opposition’s proposal at the previous meeting to include the Prime Minister’s Office in the work plan as an institution from which documents would be requested. In his view, rather than helping to uncover failures across the chain of institutions, the Office was obstructing the committee’s work.
Rrustemi: Committee should focus on the truth about Arlinda
Adnan Rrustemi, the committee’s deputy chair from the Vetëvendosje Movement, called for the work to focus on establishing the truth about Arlinda Zekaj’s murder and professionally assessing each institution’s responsibility. He proposed voting on the agenda without its second item and allowing members to propose other activities or witnesses. On Friday, Rrustemi had said the committee had no reason not to consider the two reports.
After the discussions, the meeting continued behind closed doors. The agenda included supplementing and amending the Work Plan and activity calendar, preparing a preliminary list of documents to request from institutions, and approving the committee’s budget.
Friday’s meeting adjourned
Disagreements within the committee had surfaced earlier. Friday’s meeting was adjourned after, according to Ramadani, LVV members opposed including the Prime Minister’s Office on the list of institutions from which documents and testimony would be requested.
The two ministries’ reports, whose findings were made public by Minister Donika Gërvalla and Minister Xhelal Sveçla, identified several institutional shortcomings. These include police delays in implementing protective measures, problems with the prosecution’s handling of the case and delays in court proceedings. Gërvalla has said she expects the investigative committee to help clarify what institutions did and failed to do.
The murder that shocked Kosovo
Arlinda Zekaj, 49, was killed on the evening of October 25 in Vitomiricë, Peja. Her brother-in-law is suspected of the murder. He was arrested after two days on the run and is currently in pretrial detention. Zekaj had repeatedly sought protection from the authorities because of domestic violence, including just hours before she was killed. She was the eighth woman killed in Kosovo this year.
On October 29, following the murder, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council suspended Peja’s chief prosecutor, Lumturije Vuçetaj, and the prosecutor handling the case, Arlinda Nallbani-Gacaferri. Kosovo Police, on the recommendation of the Police Inspectorate, also suspended 11 officers, including senior police officials in the Peja region. The suspensions are temporary and do not imply a determination of guilt.
Parliament established the investigative committee on October 29 with 90 votes in favor and none against. The body has 11 members and a mandate of up to six months. Its first report is expected at the end of the first 60 days.
