Pristina, 5 November 2018 – Kosovo Law Institute (KLI) expresses deep concern that although two years have passed since the suspicious death of the late Astrit Dehari, in the correctional institution, unfortunately justice institutions still do not have an official response regarding this case.
The failure of the case Dehari, who died two years ago in the correctional institute, while being held under detention measure, proves for irresponsibility and unprofessional coordination between local institutions, which instead of taking concrete actions to reveal the case, have played a wrong role in the public, becoming part of the political fights.
KLI has reacted to this case and other cases of suspicious deaths in the correctional system in Kosovo. KLI reminds that in every democratic state should be applied the minimum standards of care of persons deprived of their freedom as a result of judicial proceedings. The safety and care of persons arrested/detained or those who are serving sentences in correctional institutions or detention centers is a direct obligation and responsibility of the state.
The KLI estimates that the way of treating Dehari’s case, from the moment of his suspicious death, was completely wrong, interpreting each act and inaction officials of the justice institutions and other institutions contrary of the legal obligations. The unprofessional treatment of the case from the moment of death has aggravated the situation as a whole, making it difficult to conduct a fair, independent and impartial investigation. Unfortunately, such an approach is still ongoing, where regarding this case, quiescence has been created, while the family and the public still do not have an official response, and based on reliable facts and evidence.
KLI again calls on the responsible institutions to conduct independent and adequate investigations by gathering proves and evidence to determine the responsibility of officials, who either because of neglect, intent, action or inaction have allowed it to come to the suspicious death of Astrit Dehari.
The Dehari case should be treated with priority and state institutions should have in disposition all the needed resources to resolve this case as soon as possible. KLI had requested also to invite specialized agencies and independent foreign experts to contribute in revealing the truth about this suspicious death, and despite engagement in this way, there are still no concrete results for revealing this case. At the same time, the KLI requires everyone to be spared from comments and interpretations of this case, leaving the prosecution bodies to investigate the case independently, impartially and professionally.
KLI from the moment of information of suspicious death of Astrit Dehari, has requested institutional responsibility for this case, an independent, professional, fair and urgent investigation to correctly address responsibility and to eliminate the possibility of misunderstandings and abuse of this case.