Antigona Morina died six years ago due to constant bleeding, three days after her marriage. Her husband, Hilmi Zena, in addition to not providing medical assistance, has worsened her condition by continuing sexual intercourse with her.

      On 18 March 2018, the Koha media reported about the next scandal of the justice authorities regarding the treatment of cases of violence against women in Kosovo. The case was characterized by the disappearance of the official documents of the complaint by the Prosecutor for the case of Antigona Morina. If the media pressure of reporting did not exist, but also of the family, this victim would be forgotten by Kosovar justice.

      Following the reaction of the media, the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) on 23 March organized a protest # Justice For Antigona before the Court building in Rahovec urgently requesting an adequate response of justice, where it was suspected that the appeal made by the Prosecution was disappeared by the Court in Rahovec following the decision that found the main accused, Hilmi Zeka, innocent. The KWN also requested to address the flaws in this case as soon as possible as the destruction of official documents does not constitute only disciplinary responsibility but is a serious offense.

       The Court of Appeals further decided to remand the case for retrial. To ensure that the family of the deceased will be represented fairly, the KWN, with the support of the Austrian Development Agency, again engaged the lawyer Fehmije Gashi Bytyqi, as a representative of the injured family of Bislim Morina.

        As the next hearing was scheduled on 4 June, lawyer Bytyqi sent on 17 May to the Basic Court in Gjakova, the branch in Rahovec, the request for recusal of Judge Mizahir Shabani from the criminal case against Hilmi Zena. The Referral is based on reasonable doubts, if not the objectivity and impartiality that the Judge has caused in relation to the case.

        Establishing institutional responsibility when dealing with gender-based violence will increase the reporting of these cases by ensuring justice, protection and rehabilitation in cases of gender-based violence. By punishing violence through meritorious punishments for perpetrators of criminal offenses, the justice institutions give a proper message that there will be zero tolerance against domestic violence and that such macabre crimes will receive the deserved punishment.