Singer and artist Kastro Zizo has shared a shocking account of his relationship with his daughter and the legal battle to be close to her, after being denied contact for more than a decade.
In a statement to Top Albania Radio, Zizo reveals that his daughter, now 13, is on the autism spectrum, a fact he only learned after many years of forced separation. The artist claims that for about 10 years he was not allowed to have any contact with his daughter, who grew up in conditions he describes as "terrible."
"The girl is not like other children. She is on the autism spectrum, it comes as a result of a long, somewhat dark history, where she lived, with her mother," says Kastro.
He adds that he is in a legal process to fix his relationship with his daughter, and that this battle is more than a parental issue, it is a confrontation with injustice.
"I could talk for hours about her... At a point when you haven't been allowed to see your daughter for 10 years, you learn that she's autistic. All contact with me has been cut off. Apparently they thought I wasn't worthy, they tried to raise a human being, they didn't know how to raise a child."
He also confesses that he traveled to Pristina himself to learn about the girl's situation, following information from social services.
"The girl was taken from me in terrible conditions. I went to Pristina, I was notified by social services, she was living with her mother." Kastro Zizo is the father of three children from different mothers, two boys and a girl, with whom he seems to have had the most difficult relationship.