In a few days, it will be 1 year since the electronic surveillance system was launched for persons suspected or accused of various criminal offenses.
And from January to September of this year, according to the Kosovo Police, which is responsible for monitoring them, 30 people were arrested, all involved in domestic violence cases.
"Regarding your interest, we would like to inform you that during the period January-September of this year, 30 people were placed under electronic monitoring. All of these people are male and all have been involved in cases of 'domestic violence'. During this monitoring period, the police response in cases of violations has been immediate and has been acted in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo. At the moment, the Pristina region has the most people under this type of monitoring," the Kosovo Police stated.
But although this system came into operation, a few days ago a person who had an active protection order brutally attacked his ex-wife with an axe.
The Kosovo Police have not indicated whether he was under electronic monitoring.
The Basic Court of Pristina did not indicate for what reason the same person had the protection order active, but only said that they have taken all necessary actions and the case is in procedure.
"Referring to your request for information, we inform you that regarding the case in question, the Court has taken all necessary actions and the case is in procedure. The Court cannot share more information, because the case in question, according to the legislation in force, is a case closed to the public," the Basic Court in Pristina stated.
Meanwhile, Arrita Rezniqi, a researcher at IKL, says that the impact of electronic monitoring in practice should be analyzed.
"But we still do not have any official information or any official report on how far there has been effective implementation of the law on electronic surveillance, how much of a situation has there been through electronic channels that there has been an opportunity to have proper monitoring and implementation of protection orders, it is necessary for the Police to conduct a risk assessment, and when there is a violation, this risk assessment must be done again..", stated Arrita Rezniqi - researcher at IKL.
She further says that institutions must be held accountable for their failures in such cases.
"Accountability is necessary in each case because when there is a continuous failure of institutions to perform their duties, the consequences are repeated and it is creating continuous problems and creating a lack of security and justice for the victims in these cases..", added Rezniqi.
Cases were not rare in Kosovo when women who had reported their husbands for domestic violence ended up being killed.
Hamide Magashi, who was pregnant, was killed in front of the Gynecology Clinic at the end of 2022, despite the institutions having issued a protection order against her husband.TV Dukagjini/
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