A collage of Astrit, Justice Minister and the fire in the object of IML
During the morning of November 21, a considerable fire engulfed the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Republic of Kosovo, otherwise known as “IML”. However, this is not the first time that this institute has been catching fire this year. In March 2023, a fire broke out in this building where mortal remains, archives, samples, and evidence of suspicious deaths, murders, or similar cases are kept under investigation. This institute operates within the Ministry of Justice of Kosovo.
The fire that broke in the building of this institute on November 21st
It has been reported that after the fire, the firefighters went to the scene. Malë Gashi, the leader of the Kosovo fire brigade, said, “The building on the second floor was burned; some papers were burned by the fire. The causes are not yet known. According to the director of this institute, Ditor Halit, “two offices on the second floor of this building were engulfed in fire.”
On the other hand, the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, wrote on the same day that “from the initial assessments, there was no burning or damage to the remains, the IML archive, or the samples,” emphasizing that based on the first information, the samples were not damaged. The minister added that she wished that human hands had not been involved in starting the fire.
This very important institute of Kosovo’s name has been called quite a few times for numerous scandals and irregularities. Only during the year 2023, it was fined 6,000 euros for inadequate working conditions, not leaving this as the only fine imposed on this institute by the Labor Inspectorate of Kosovo.
Irregularities, puzzles, and violations in this institution are nothing new. Based on the findings of the Labor Inspectorate, the morgue rooms do not have ventilation; moreover, the corpses are physically carried as a result of the lack of adequate equipment for their transport. The objections of those mentioned according to these findings within this institute turn out to be horrible by not respecting the norms of sanitation and adequate hygiene.
Journalist Besnik Krasniqi, on the day this institute caught fire this November, wrote on his Facebook account that the auditor had found 450 unfinished autopsy reports, most of which were for murder, and that a letter from the institute’s employees stated that these cases were deliberately delayed. Krasniqi has described this institute as one of the most criminal institutions in Kosovo. This journalist started the article by taking as an example the case of a young girl, named Blerta, who, although had been left immobilized in an accident, by this institute her damage was described as “slight body injury,” thus sentencing the driver who caused the accident with a fine of only 200 euros.
“Blerta is immobile and was a victim of the Institute of Forensic Medicine. Of one of the most criminal institutions that Kosovo has. She was immobilized in an accident, but the doctor of the institute, who for a time was also the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, wrote in the report that she suffered a “slight body injury”. Based on this report, a judge sentenced the driver who caused the accident to a 200 euro fine. Super-expertise later concluded that it was “a serious injury,” so heavy that Blerta could no longer walk on her feet. After the super-expertise, an indictment was filed against the doctor who issued a false report about the girl and against the judge who, based on that report, did not take the driver to prison. The indictment against these two was quickly dismissed under the rationale that it could not be proven that they did this intentionally or that they benefited from something. This is how unfair our justice is”, he wrote amongst others.
Besnik continued by saying that, as a result of the deliberate inactivity of this institute, over 100 clinical examination reports of women who have been affected by physical and sexual violence have not yet been reviewed. The journalist made claims that entire samples have been degraded or destroyed for the perpetrators of the crimes outside the institute to be amnestied and the employees and leaders inside the institute to get rich, hinting that he is talking about corruption in the exercise of duty.
“Blerta is not the only victim. The biggest victims are those killed. The auditor has found about 450 unfinished autopsy reports in the institute, most of them for murder. In a letter from some employees of the Institute, it is stated that many of these cases have been deliberately delayed, so that they do not receive an epilogue, because the court’s decision on the criminals, in whose favor people at the Institute work, depends on the epilogue. The same has happened with more than 100 clinical examination reports, mainly for women who have been subjected to physical and sexual violence. In many cases, the samples have been degraded or completely destroyed so that criminals outside the institute can be amnestied and those inside can be enriched. It has been a while since the letter went to the addresses of the highest state institutions. Unfortunately, no actions have been seen,” wrote journalist Krasniqi.
“Therefore, today, criminals outside and inside the institute have reason to celebrate, to rejoice in the flames of smoke. Because even the few testimonies against them are turning to ashes,” he added, reacting thus a few hours after the news that the Institute of Forensic Medicine had caught fire.
Many citizens associate the fire in this institute with the death of a young man. On November 5, 2016, it was reported that a young man had died inside the Prizren Detention Center. This was the activist of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Astrit Dehari, 26 years old at the time, who had stayed there for a full 68 days under the suspicion that, together with other activists, he had thrown grenades into the Kosovo parliament.
Astrit Dehari, Vetvendosje’s activist who was found dead at 26 when in prison
At that time, the Kosovo Police and the Prizren Prosecutor’s Office both made conflicting statements. As if this were not enough, the former chief prosecutor of Prizren, Sylë Hoxha, said that Dehari had marks on his neck. His death could not be seen otherwise but suspicious. In less than 24 hours, the Vetëvendosje Movement had called his arrest the result of a fabricated cause and that Astrit’s death was and remains an institutional responsibility. Dehar’s parents kept the same claims for seven years. The same is valid to this day. When Dehar’s autopsy was performed, prosecutor Syla stated that the Vetëvendosje activist had died as a result of asphyxiation.
The Vetëvendosje movement during these seven years has continuously attacked the relevant government during the mandate in which Dehari was found dead, using more than one form or means. Starting from the then prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, the minister of justice of that cabinet, Dhurata Hoxha, up to the prosecutor who dealt with the case of Sylë Hoxhaj. The institutions and supporters of this government at that time had clear tendencies to support the narrative that Astrit committed suicide; on the other hand, the family, co-activists, and main people of the party attacked the power and government at that time with the narrative that they had killed the 26-year-old young man and were hiding the evidence proving that Astrit did not commit suicide. Astrit was in his last year of studies at the Faculty of Medicine. He was married and expecting a child with his wife. From the moment of his death until now, almost nothing has been done to clarify his fate.
Astrit’s daughter, Arsa Dehari, born a few months after his death
On December 8, 2022, the evidence of the Dehari case, which was stored in this institute, disappeared, almost three years after the Kurti government was in power and the minister of justice came from Vetëvendosje, the party in which Dehari himself was an activist.
According to Tomë Gashi, the family’s lawyer, the tragic incident involving Dehar’s murder is believed to be far from accidental. Gashi asserts that the responsible parties behind this heinous act are none other than meticulously coordinated criminal organizations.
Minister Haxhiu had said that “Given the sensitivity of the case, last night, in the late hours, I was informed that the samples of Astri Dehar had disappeared from the laboratory. I informed the acting chief prosecutor, Besim Kelmendi. In the case of test tubes, there were 15 blood test tubes, one urine test tube, and one test tube of urine.
There was no lack of reaction from the citizens on how the evidence could disappear precisely when the party in which Dehari was an activist was in charge of the government of the country and of the Ministry of Justice. On the seventh anniversary of Dehar’s death, Haxhiu wrote on her social networks that to achieve justice, the will of the justice bodies is needed. For this, Haxhiu was interviewed by the Special Prosecutor’s Office. She did not stop there, commenting after the interview as follows:
“It was not the first time I said such a thing. The question arises: why did the prosecutor react now and not then? Did the special prosecutor react in the same way to the statements of state officials who said that Astrit Dehari committed suicide? Did he react as quickly to the illegal actions of the responsible officials in the Dehari case? A number of episodes have taken place during these years, but the prosecutor has not shown the same zeal”, said Haxhiu.
Meanwhile, the US State Department said that the investigation remains ongoing.
“The investigation into the death of the activist of the Vetëvendosje party in 2016, Astrit Dehari, has remained ongoing. Dehari was arrested on suspicion of participating in an attack on the Assembly of Kosovo. Authorities investigated whether Dehari committed suicide, while members of his family and representatives of the Vetëvendosje party claim that he was killed because of his political activism” – was written by the US Department of State.
Every year, Lévizja Vetëvëndosje organizes tributes and several activities to mark the anniversary of Astri Dehar’s death. Many activists go and participate in these activities, but they never express doubts about why Dehar’s evidence was lost during the mandate of the party to which it he served as an activist, nor why the evidence was always referred to as “lost,” not “stolen,” or, should we say, “destroyed,” because they cannot have been lost unless someone took or stole them.
Primeminister Kurti and Astrit’s father paying tribute on his death anniversary
Astrit’s daughter, Arsa, who was born a few months after his death, was photographed and published by the Vetevendosje movement
Minister of Justice in Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, lighting a candle for Astrit’s death anniversary
Kurti and Astrit’s parents paying tribute on the 5th of November
The long columns of youngsters and Vetevendosje activists visiting Astrit’s grave on the 5th of November
