Prishtina, 5 December, 2023
With a minute’s silence for the murder of Liridona Ademaj, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, began his speech at the regional conference, jointly organized by the Ministry of Justice and the Office of the Presidency, with the theme “United against violence – ENOUGH!”
In his speech, he said that the complete elucidating Liridona’s case is justice, and we expect the punishment to be fair, that is, maximum, as he once again expressed his sincere condolences to the family and wished health for her children.
He emphasized that we are working to create a strong legal environment against gender-based violence, by supplementing and changing the criminal procedure code, by toughening the measures for the perpetrators of the criminal offenses of rape, sexual violence and domestic violence. At the same time, access to social services has been improved by raising support for these services and ensuring financial stability for shelters for survivors of domestic violence, through an increase in the budget and a special budget line for them.
However, the prime minister added that we need the entire justice system to prioritize the treatment of cases of violence against girls and women, and give meritorious punishments to the perpetrators, to the criminals.
“We can’t say more clearly that we need deserved punishment. The leniency of the sentence is causing the repetition of the crime. Justice is a necessary condition for a free and democratic society, what we want to be and will aspire to remain forever”, he said.
As institutions but also as a society, we have the duty to engage in the battle for equality in rights, said the Prime Minister, among other things.
“No one, neither the wife nor the husband, nor the daughter nor the son, are anyone’s property. All people are free, with equal rights”.
Further, he underlined that it is the last time to become aware and act together, we who think and discuss together, while calling for our public and private schools, our public and private media, artists and sportsmen, people who have increased influence in society, everyone should avoid messages, public and private messages that can be seen as inciting or justifying violence, and should join our campaign against gender-based violence.
“Cynicism and sarcasm help criminals, they are support for violent people. If we act together, with unconditional, unsparing, unreserved solidarity, in this battle of ours, I am sure we will defeat violence, discrimination and inequalities”, he said, so that every girl and woman, every one, must to feel free, safe and pristine to live.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech:
Dear Deputy Prime Ministers of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Donika Gërvalla Schwarz and Mrs. Emilija Rexhepi,
Honorable Ms. Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Justice in the Republic of Kosovo,
Honorable Mr. Ulsi Manja, Minister of Justice in the Republic of Albania,
The honorable Mr. Krenar Lloga, Minister of Justice in North Macedonia,
Dear Mrs. Vedrana Shimunxha-Nikoliq, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Justice in the Republic of Croatia,
Honorable Mrs. Iris Luarasi, former president of GREVIO, Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence,
Your Excellencies Ambassadors,
Dear Ministers of the Government, Members of the Assembly, representatives and heads of state institutions,
Dear attendees,
Ladies and gentleman,
It is happening every year because the cases are frequent. But often there is one. Even just one case is often. Since you don’t need any. Liridona Ademaj was reburied yesterday. Her reburial is a righteous act. So in her memory I ask you to stand for a minute of silence. Rest in peace.
The complete clarification of Liridona’s case is justice, and we expect the punishment to be fair, that is, the maximum. I express my sincere condolences to the family and wish health for her children.
Serious cases like these cannot allow us to turn a blind eye to widespread gender-based violence.
We are working to create a strong legal environment against gender-based violence, by supplementing and amending the criminal procedure code, by toughening the measures for the perpetrators of the criminal offenses of rape, sexual violence and domestic violence.
We have improved access to social services by increasing support for these services and ensuring financial stability for shelters for survivors of domestic violence, through increased budget and a special budget line for them.
Taking care of the functioning of all interactive mechanisms from reporting to treatment, investigation, judgment, i.e. to final justice, is and will be a high priority in our government.
But what we need most now, what society and justice need, is a much more active and much more effective prosecutorial and judicial system.
The weight of injustice cannot continue to fall on the shoulders of women and girls. Not even on the shoulders of children and the elderly. Nor on the shoulders of the poor and oppressed. Nor on the shoulders of persons challenged by any other circumstances. Institutions are obliged to always be by the side of those who are wronged, any kind of injustice.
As institutions but also as a society, we have the duty to engage in the battle for equality in rights. To work for the sanctity and inviolability of each individual, regardless of the choices he or she makes in life. We cannot decide anyone’s life. No one, neither wife nor husband, daughter nor son, is anyone’s property. All people are free, with equal rights. We believe in human rights, and human rights bring together universality and equality.
Dear attendees,
Some of the most serious cases during the war in Kosovo were when Serbian forces raped girls and women, and in many cases, even in the presence of family members. In the center of our capital, Pristina, we have the “Heroines” memorial, dedicated to the 20 thousand women and girls who were raped during the war. We who bow to that memorial, have the responsibility to fight together these cases that have become phenomena, when the women and girls of our free country are being violated and killed, even in the presence of their children. All this from their own partners, the men of this society.
It is a fact that violence against women is a global phenomenon, also connected to the rising wave of the extreme right, and yet it is an even deeper dose of compassion when femicide appears in a society even after the collective survival of the genocide.
In an attempt to understand what is happening, it is important to ask that in our society where is the woman and where is the man?
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
Last year, on the first day of the 16-day campaign against gender-based violence, Sadije Godeni was killed with an ax by her husband while she was asleep.
A few days later Hamide Magashi, pregnant, was killed by her husband in the courtyard of the University Clinical Center.
Violence and murder, violence and murder, that is taking the lives of our women.
The latest murders. The ordered murder of Liridona Ademaj by her husband, and the kidnapping from school and then the murder of 14-year-old Vanja Gjorçevska in Skopje, has weighed on our minds and hearts.
Liridona’s orderlies and ringleaders have been arrested and put behind bars. The vigilant police, as ever, are acting quickly and with high efficiency. But it is not enough just to arrest the criminals, because now they know that there are similar cases, not few when the criminals are released and the crimes are repeated, and even more serious than the first time.
We need the entire justice system to prioritize the treatment of cases of violence against girls and women, and give meritorious sentences to the perpetrators, to the criminals. We cannot say more clearly that we need deserved punishment. The leniency of the sentence is causing the repetition of the crime. Justice is a necessary condition for a free and democratic society, what we want to be and will aspire to remain forever.
It is high time for us to become aware and act together, we who think and discuss together. Cynicism and sarcasm help criminals, they are support for bullies. It is necessary that our public and private schools, our public and private media, artists and athletes, people who have increased influence in society, all avoid messages, public and private orders that can be seen as inciting or justifying violence, and should join our campaign against gender-based violence. If we act together, with unconditional, unsparing, unreserved solidarity, in this battle of ours, I am sure that we will defeat violence, discrimination and inequalities.
Every girl and every woman should feel free, safe and intact to live. Only in this way does each function we carry in society and each position we have in institutions have meaning.
Thank you.
Last modified: December 7, 2023