On Friday, August 4th, the Basic Court of Ferizaj sentenced Dardan Krivaqa to life imprisonment for the murder of Marigona Osmani.

“The Court sentences the accused Dardan Krivaqa for the criminal offense of ‘aggravated murder’ to life imprisonment,” said Judge Sahit Krasniqi while reading the verdict, which was met with cheering and applause in the courtroom.

Marigona Osmani was 18 years old when she was killed on August 22, 2021, in the apartment of the main accused, Dardan Krivaqa, in the city of Ferizaj. Two individuals, now convicted Krivaqa and Arbër Sejdiu, had taken the lifeless body of the victim to the city’s emergency department and then fled in an unknown direction.

Meanwhile, the other suspect, Arbër Sejdiu, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime of severe murder.

“The accused Arbër Sejdiu, for the criminal offense of aiding in the commission of the criminal offense of aggravated murder, [the Court] sentences to a term of 15 years in prison,” said Judge Krasniqi.

However, Krivaqa and Sejdiu were acquitted of the charges of violence and aiding in violence, respectively, as the Court found insufficient evidence to prove such accusations.

The lawyer of Marigona Osmani’s family, Gazmend Rexhepi, said that the family is “frustrated” with the sentence for the second accused. He announced an appeal because, as he said, the second accused also deserves life imprisonment.

“The murder of Marigona has been the most severe in the post-war period, as the chronology of this murder took place 72 hours earlier than her passing,” he said.

“With the life imprisonment [for Krivaqa], we are completely satisfied, but not with the second [sentence for Sejdiu],” said Remzi Osmani, Marigona’s uncle.

According to the indictment, on August 21, 2021, at around 10:14 am, Dardan Krivaqa, without the consent of the late Marigona Osmani, forced her to engage in sexual relations and abused and mistreated her in various ways.

A day later, on August 22, 2021, Krivaqa and Sejdiu are accused of taking the life of Marigona Osmani in an attempt to conceal the criminal offense of violence.

• What were Krivaqa and Sejdiu accused of?

They were accused of a series of criminal offenses, including violence, aiding in violence, and severe murder committed jointly.

According to the indictment, Sejdiu intentionally assisted Krivaqa in committing the criminal offense of violence.

He was accused of intentionally taking actions to facilitate the commission of this criminal offense, even though he was aware that Krivaqa was perpetrating the act of violence, and continuously monitored if anyone was moving in the vicinity.

Both were also accused of attempting to conceal the traces of the crime, trying to hide the surveillance camera footage.

• What was requested in the closing arguments?

In the final court session for this case, prosecutor Valdet Avdiu requested that Krivaqa and Sejdiu be sentenced according to the law.

During the session held on August 1, Prosecutor Avdiu stated that “from all the evidence, witnesses, and video recordings, it has been proven that the defendants committed the criminal offenses as stated in the indictment”.

On the other hand, the lawyer representing the family of Marigona Osmani, Gazmend Rexhepi, asked for the maximum punishment for the defendants.

Rexhepi said that the defendants should be given the maximum sentence so that such cases never happen again in Kosovo.

Defense lawyer for Dardan Krivaqa, Admir Salihu, stated that the court should consider all elements and circumstances, as he said, “it has been proven that the criminal offense was committed under the influence of narcotics”.

Krivaqa himself expressed regret for what happened.

Prior to the verdict, Krivaqa underwent a psychiatric examination at the request of his defense lawyer. The report from this examination found that Krivaqa does not have any mental disorder or psychotic illness.

• Protest in front of the Court

The Feminist Thought and Action Collective held a protest in front of the Basic Court in Ferizaj before the verdict was announced in this case.

“From today’s decision, we expect the maximum sentence, even though we are quite skeptical, based on what the courts have shown in the past, giving very low sentences to perpetrators of crimes, especially when it comes to gender-based violence and assaults,” said a representative of this organization.

The Feminist Thought and Action Collective also stated before the protest that the “heinous violence” inflicted by Krivaqa with the help of Sejdiu led to the death of Marigona Osmani.

“We cannot forget that Marigona could be alive today if the state had protected her in time,” they said in their statement.

Despite the evidence presented, the defense lawyers of Krivaqa and Sejdiu had requested the dismissal of the indictment. However, Judge Sahit Krasniqi refused the request on September 2, 2022, and rejected the objections to the evidence presented by the defense teams of the accused.

According to data from 2010 to 2023, 50 women have been killed in Kosovo. Human rights organizations have, in several cases, blamed the authorities for failing to protect women at risk of violence.

In most cases, the perpetrators of the murders were spouses, followed by fathers and sons.

The latest murder occurred on November 30 last year when a pregnant woman was shot to death in the courtyard of the University Clinical Center of Kosovo in Prishtina.

The perpetrator of this murder was her partner with whom she cohabitated, and he later killed himself.