The Basic Court in Peja issued a life sentence on Monday for the murder of Donjeta Pajazitaj by her cousin, Naser Pajazitaj, in a retrial that was issued after an appeal was filed by the prosecution in September 2018.

Pajazitaj was originally sentenced in March 2018 to two years and four months in prison for an unlicensed gun charge, but the presiding judge cited insufficient evidence presented by the prosecution that resulted in his acquittal of Pajazitaj’s murder.

The Basic Court in Peja’s press release cites “new evidence that was previously absent” which proved that Naser Pajazitaj committed the murder.

An appeal was brought in September last year by prosecutor Valbona Disha-Haxhosaj, who claimed that the court erroneously established the facts by relying on evidence provided by the accused’s wife and daughter.

According to the prosecution, in November 2015 while Donjeta was on her way to work, the accused picked Donjeta up in a car on her way to work and killed her, shooting her twice in the head. Pajazitaj was found dead in December 2015 in the mountains near the village of Strellc, Decan, six weeks after she was reported missing by family members.

Naser Pajazitaj was previously sentenced to twenty years in prison for a murder in 1993.

This court ruling marks the second time this month, and the second time in Kosovo’s history, that a life sentence has been handed down for a woman’s murder.

On March 1, the Court of Appeal overturned a decision by the Basic Court in Gjakova and sentenced the ex-husband of Valbona Nrecaj, Pjeter Nrecaj, to life in prison for the murder of her and her daughter in August 2018.

Upon the announcement of the Peja court’s decision, Shkelqim Pajazitaj, Donjeta’s brother, said, “We should trust in justice.”