The Platform for Gender Equality responds to the decision of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kumanovo to initiate proceedings against 36-year-old V.I. from Kratovo, who is a victim of domestic violence. We believe that this case represents an act of self-defense, or necessary defense, rather than a ‘premeditated murder,’ as claimed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in its statement.
It is extremely paradoxical that the victim of domestic violence is now being prosecuted by The Public Prosecutor’s Office as a perpetrator.
Namely, according to the announcement of the Kumanovo Public Prosecutor’s Office itself, it is said: “During a domestic violence done on June 13th, the suspect deliberately deprived her husband and her father-in-law of life. After a previous verbal argument, her husband physically attacked the suspect, hitting her with his fists in the area of the head and body, and then grabbed her by the neck with his hands and started to strangle her. She managed to get away and took a kitchen knife from the kitchen with which she first stabbed her husband and then his father. They died on the spot from their injuries.”
It follows that the suspect V.I. from Kratovo herself was a victim of domestic violence.
This action of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is very similar to the case of Pale Ilovska from Veles, who was also a long-term victim of domestic violence and as an act of self-defense she killed the assailant. Similarly, she was prosecuted by the prosecutor’s office for a ‘murder in the heat of the moment.’ The court then correctly ruled for acquittal.
The Platform for Gender Equality requests that the Court exercise due diligence in this case and consider all decisive facts. Although the case law is not mandatory, we urge the Court to consider the principles established by the acquittal in Pale’s case.
In particular, the history of violence and abuse against the victim, V.I., as well as the children who were also victims of family violence, should be considered, along with the institutional failure to protect the victim, which left her to defend herself.
This is not the first case in which women who have suffered domestic violence were not only unprotected by the competent institutions but were also reported and treated as perpetrators of domestic violence. We want this to be the last case of mistreatment of domestic violence victims and the wrongful accountability of women who are most affected by violence, particularly due to the lack of a timely and appropriate response from institutions..
The Platform for Gender Equality will address the Center for Social Affairs and the police to determine why and how the failure occurred in this case and we will additionally monitor the actions of the competent institutions.
The subsequent actions of the judicial authorities regarding this case will undoubtedly impact social awareness, in which the media play a significant role. They must report according to ethical standards and be careful not to contribute to double victimization. This will also help encourage victims to report violence against women and domestic violence.
