Kosovo Students Demand Justice Over Youngster’s Suicide in Quarantine

Pristina University Students demanded justice in front of the government building in Kosovo on Tuesday over the shocking death by suicide of a young man with health issues in state-run quarantine.

Kosovo university students on Tuesday demanded justice over the death by suicide in early May of a 26-year-old with health issues who had been placed in state-run quarantine.

Agon Musliu, from Gjilan/ Gnilanje, was put in 14-day quarantine after returning from Germany from his graduate studies.

The University of Pristina students said government institutions needed to accept responsibility for the young man’s death, which they attributed to institutional neglect and to failure to “acknowledge his health problems… and not allow his parents to meet him… and his right to self-isolate”.

The students held placards in the grounds of the main Skanderbeg Square in front of the government building in Pristina. “Silence kills more … Why did you lock me up?… I had no one to protect me,” some of the placards read underneath Musliu’s image.

Musliu’s father, Naim Musliu, told the local media outlet Klan Kosova on May 4, one day after the death of his son, that Agon had had health issues with his kidneys and had not been feeling well emotionally.

“The worst is that I was not allowed to see him either in the airport or in quarantine,” Musliu said, adding that he held Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Health Minister Arben Vitia and acting Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla “responsible for his death”.

The state-run quarantine system was created to isolate people for 14 days after they return from abroad as a prevention measure against the spread of COVID-19. The prosecution is still investigating the case, to clarify the circumstances of the death.

Addressing the accusations of misuse, Kosovo’s outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti said no violations were committed and that the prosecution’s investigation will “clarify” the case.

“I cannot speak right now. Someone else has to deal with this issue. We need to have an investigation, forensics. Before expressing opinions, we need to have facts because there are people who give opinions without seeing the facts,” Kurti said on May 16.

This was not the first protest held in Kosovo during the coronavirus pandemic. In March, many citizens protested by banging domestic utensils on their balconies, calling on political leaders to leave their political interests aside, before the no-confidence motion in parliament toppled the Kurti-led government on March 25.

Ruling Vetevendosje party activists also staged a so-called protest rehearsal in mid-May, following COVID-19-related social distancing recommendations, which they said will be repeated, allegedly with around 5,000 people.

Some Muslim believers also performed public prayers in the main square of Pristina to demand the reopening of mosques. I AM I, a local artist who uses art to protest, has staged several public protests against the political turmoil in Kosovo.

There are 1,048 cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo, of whom 801 have recovered and 30 died due to complications. Starting from Wednesday, movement restrictions have been lifted, with citizens now being allowed to go out freely from 5am to 9pm. The country is planning to slowly re-open from June 1.

A placard of Agon Musliu, who committed suicide in state-run quarantine in Pristina, reading: “Why did you lock me up?”, in the main Skanderbeg Square in Pristina. Photo: EPA-EFE/ Valdrin Xhemaj

Placard with quotes from Naim Musliu, Agon Musliu’s father, blaming the Health Minister, Prime Minister and Acting Interior Minister for the death of his son, in front of the government building in Pristina. Photo: BIRN