Pristina residents: Institutions and society bear responsibility for the killing of Arlinda Zekaj

The killer is responsible for the murder of Arlinda Zekaj in Vitomirica near Pec, according to Pristina residents interviewed by Kosovo Online reporters, but they also believe that responsibility lies with the institutions that failed to do enough to protect her, as well as with society as a whole.

“The killer is to blame for her death, but the institutions also bear responsibility. They should have helped and supported her. I am going to cry because it is so sad,” a Pristina resident told us.

Another resident placed responsibility on the institutions.

“Obviously, the state is to blame. The state is definitely to blame,” she said.

For another Pristina resident, the killing of Arlinda Zekaj represents an institutional failure. She said that the institutions had failed to allocate sufficient funding and that mechanisms for protecting victims were not functioning.

“Many institutions are to blame, and this is a complete institutional failure. The institutions have not allocated sufficient funding, the laws are not being enforced, and coordination mechanisms are not functioning. Until they do function, and until the state allocates an adequate budget, all state institutions bear responsibility. This includes the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and all municipalities.

They must begin working together to allocate adequate resources so that all women are protected,” she said.

Another Pristina resident said that responsibility also lay with society.

“We all bear responsibility as a society,” she said.
Since the killing of Arlinda Zekaj, protests have been held outside the Kosovo Government building in Pristina, with demonstrators demanding the resignations of Justice Minister Donika Gervalla and Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla.