A court in Pristina on Tuesday sentenced six people to a total of 62 years in prison for the rape of a minor in 2022.
"The accused BR, D.RR, BS, MS, FS, MR have been found guilty and sentenced by the court, after having committed the criminal offense of rape. The accused B.RR was sentenced to twelve years of imprisonment, while the accused D.RR, BS, MS, F. S and MR were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment each", the court announcement states.
Two of the accused have been released.
All were charged in December 2022 on suspicion of involvement in the rape of an 11-year-old girl in June 2022 in Pristina.
The event denounced by the victim's family two years ago, had provoked strong reactions from institutions and organizations for the protection of human rights. Initially, the authorities said that the minor was raped in August 2022 in a park in Pristina, but the details presented later showed that several cases of rape were committed against the minor in a period of over a year.
The publication of this case was followed by successive protests in Kosovo amid concerns about the low level of safety of women and girls in the country and the handling of cases of violence against them by the authorities. The incident caused the then director of the Kosovo police, Samedin Mehmeti, and the head of the directorate for the treatment of prisoners and minors, Ali Gashi, to resign.