Prosecution probes murder after victim's pre-death warning letter
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Three days before Arlinda Zekaj was murdered in Peja, she wrote to the prosecution to warn them her life was in danger. In the letter, she noted that institutions are often only held accountable after a life is lost; her lawyer has now filed a disciplinary complaint against a prosecutor alleging the state is responsible for her death.
The suspect remains at large while the Prosecutor’s Office treats the investigation as a high priority, a designation that arrives too late for the victim. Documents now reveal she had also sought assistance from the police to no avail. Public reactions have been sharp, focusing on the gap between a citizen’s request for protection and the state's eventual arrival at the crime scene.
The regional mood is equally restless. In Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama is introducing heavy fines and jail time for masked protesters to quell what he calls "urban violence." Meanwhile, in Serbia, President Aleksandar Vučić has acknowledged a rare electoral defeat at the hands of a student-backed list.