President Osmani on the 20th anniversary of the murder of Ukë Bytyqi: The courage, determination and wisdom of his words remain an example to today's and tomorrow's politicians
The President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani Sadriu commemorated the first post-war mayor of Suharekë and the outstanding activist of Kosovo for the freedom and independence of the country, Ukë Bytyqi, on the 20th anniversary of his assassination.
President Osmani: The issue of environmental protection is closely related to our daily life
The President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani took part today in the planting of trees on the road axis at the “Adem Jashari” Prishtina International Airport.
President Osmani's address at the opening of the Crime Victims' Rights Week
President Osmani received at a meeting the special envoy of the United Kingdom for the Western Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach
The President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani received at a meeting the United Kingdom's special envoy for the Western Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach.
President Osmani received at a meeting the representatives of Albanians from Preshevë, Medvegjë and Bujanoc: Mass registration means political and institutional empowerment
The President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani received today at a meeting the institutional and political representatives of Albanians from Preshevë, Medvegjë and Bujanoc. The central topic of this meeting was the population census process in the municipality of Preshevë, Bujanoc and Medvegjë.
President Osmani's speech at the marking of the Victims of Crimes Week
Dear acting Chief Prosecutor Mr. Kelmendi, Dear Chairman of KPC, Mr. Maloku, Honorable President of the Supreme Court Mr. Peci, Dear Ambassador Hovenier, Ambassador Wiegemark, Dear other representatives of local and international institutions, Dear participants, Ladies and gentlemen; I would like to first express my appreciation for the organization of victims' week which I consider to be an extremely important opportunity to discuss together such an important issue that challenges our state and society. I believe that the observance of victims week this year is made even more important by the fact that it comes shortly after our public opinion was shocked by cases of heinous crimes of sexual assault. I will use this opportunity to focus specifically on the need for an efficient and uncompromising fight against these heinous crimes. As we are all aware, during the past few months our country has been shocked by many horror stories of rape and sexual harassment – the victims of which crimes in some cases were also minors. Although the very fact that these crimes have occurred is serious enough to alarm each one of us, what made this situation even more serious was the lack of effective response of the institutions in addressing these criminal offenses. And for this reason, after the meetings we had with the responsible institutions I am here today to make a public appeal for a much more proactive role of our institutions in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and more effective sentencing of criminal offenses against sexual integrity. At the meetings with the heads of justice institutions, I addressed precisely the issue of systemic failures and shortcomings, which have been highlighted by the analysis and evaluations that have already been done for several years, including the analysis made by our international partners. At our meetings, we discussed the best ways to address together the shortcomings s of our system, not only in the justice system but also in other law enforcement mechanisms, to strengthen the prevention and fight against sexual crimes as well as the protection and rehabilitation of victims. As a must, preventing and fighting crime and especially supporting victims requires a multidimensional approach. Our institutions, apart from those of justice, must work harder to prevent and efficiently fight these heinous criminal acts which, in addition to violating the law also violate our basic, family and social values. Therefore, we must work together to raise awareness and inform the public about sexual violence and sexual harassment, and above all, on how we can better protect our children and all our citizens. It is important to work on building institutional capacities, including those of all officials involved in the prevention, prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators of these crimes: starting from social work centers, educational institutions up to the police, the prosecutor's office and the courts. The failures identified in our institutional mechanisms are numerous, starting from the most basic ones, such as the existence of the respective mechanisms and procedures within educational institutions to the most complicated problems, such as the way of legal interpretation of the notion of the criminal offense of sexual violence. In this regard, it has already been discussed that many officials of the justice system often use outdated standards in the investigation, prosecution and trial of acts of sexual violence, not applying the modern concept which is also applicable in our codes, i.e. the concept of the modern version of distinguishing elements of the criminal offense of rape, namely not giving consent, but instead looking for physical traces of violence. In fact, there were no shortage of shocking cases when the judge took as a mitigating circumstance the lack of physical injuries in a case of rape of a minor girl. As you know, in juvenile cases, even the element of non-consent need not be proven. The least that our institutions can do is act in defense of the victim in the most efficient and effective way. And in many cases, and especially in the recent case of the 11-year-old girl, it has been seen that this proper reaction in defense of the victim has been missing. In addition, there have been other prior cases where an extreme delay was observed between the criminal report and the filing of the indictment. Just as shocking are the low-grade sentences, even below the minimum provided by law when they are imposed by the courts. It has been noticed that there is a clear avoidance of the implementation of the guidelines for recommendation and the measurement of punishment by both prosecutors and judges. Such an approach is not the protection of the victims, such an approach is the protection of the criminals and even worse, such an approach is the encouragement of the criminals, it is the encouragement to continue the violence against our daughters, against our sons, against the children of this Republic. Therefore, in addition to infuriating our citizens, this deeply affects their loss of trust in justice and emboldens the criminals even further to continue with their criminal abuses, without ever fearing the hand of justice. We have also realized that until now there has been no coordination protocol between the institutions and I welcome the news that such a protocol is already being drafted. Another very important aspect is the care that we must offer to victims of crime in all cases, especially in these sensitive cases of rape and sexual harassment. It is the right time to better address the assistance to the victims, through the improvement of the human and physical capacities to treat them after these traumatic events for them. It has also been repeatedly stated that there is a lack of capacity, including of prosecutors specialized in sexual violence cases, especially in cases involving minors, psychologists and social workers to handle sensitive cases and that there are obstacles and delays in monitoring the surveillance materials such as: videos, phone messages, etc., which then causes delays. And as we have seen in such cases, a
The First Gentleman Prindon Sadriu received the First Lady of Malta Mary-Anne Vella
At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, the President of Malta George Vella visited Kosovo on an official visit, accompanied by the first lady Mary-Anne Vella, who were received with high state honors.
Joint press conference of the President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani and the President of Malta George Vella
Joint press conference of the President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani and the President of Malta George Vella
President Osmani held several bilateral meetings with senior officials of several countries at the Women, Peace and Security Forum
The President of the Republic of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani held a series of bilateral meetings with senior officials of several countries during the proceedings of the Women, Peace and Security Forum.