The Gender Equality Platform is following the trial of 36-year-old Vangjelica from Kratovo, a victim of domestic violence, who is being prosecuted by the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for the crime of “Murder with intent”.
As we have already emphasized, we believe that in this particular case it is an act of self-defense, i.e. the institute of “necessary defense”, and not a crime of “murder with intent”, as the Public Prosecutor’s Office claims.
During the trial, both the prosecution’s and the defense’s expert reports were presented. Both expert reports establish that the defendant did not intend to commit the crime and did not plan it, i.e. her goal was to defend herself from the victims. The accused, due to the many years of conflicts with the victims, carried within her an affective tension towards them, and at the critical moment, due to the feeling of life being threatened by her husband who shouted, threatened and beat her, it led to an affective eruption in which she reached for a knife. When her father-in-law entered and told her that he would kill her, moving towards her to attack her, she reached for a knife again.
The affect was from the conflict situations, the frustrations from the many years of abuse, threats, verbal arguments with her husband and father-in-law. Due to fear for her own life, the situation culminated in a strong affective discharge that led to murder. For strong irritation to occur, there are four criteria: intense affect, affect that is not the fault of the perpetrator, affect caused by the victim that occurs in a short period of time – a moment. The event lasted briefly, she acted in a moment irritated by the immediate feeling that her life was threatened.
Both the prosecution’s evidence and the defense’s expert testimony confirm that this is an act of self-defense, i.e., the institute of “necessary defense”. Hence, we request that the prosecution reclassify the crime, taking into account the already existing case law. The Public Prosecutor’s Office’s actions are very similar to the case of Pale Ilovska from Veles, who was also a long-time victim of domestic violence and killed the perpetrator in an act of self-defense. Similar to this case, the Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted her for “sudden murder”. The court then correctly acquitted her.
The Platform for Gender Equality requests that if the Public Prosecutor’s Office Kumanovo does not reclassify the crime, the court act with due diligence in this case and review all decisive facts and take into account the principles established by the acquittal decision in Pale’s case.
