Montenegro Court Imposes Maximum 40-Year Sentence for Femicide

Reflecting tougher attitudes towards femicide, a court in Montenegro has handed Ilir Djokaj the maximum sentence of 40 years in jail for shooting dead his former partner.

Protests in 2021 after the murder of Sejla Bakija i Tuzi, Montenegro Photo: Courtesy of TV BOIN

The Higher Court in Montenegro sentenced Ilir Djokaj to a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for the aggravated murder of Sejla Bakija, 19, and for wounding her father, Saban, in September 2021. Djokaj was found guilty of aggravated murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons.

Judge Veljko Radovanovic in the explanation of the verdict said Djokaj had killed Sejla out of base motives and feelings of selfishness. The court rejected defence claims that Djokaj was threatened when he came to the Bakija family home in Tuzi, near Podgorica.

Djokaj’s lawyer, Srdjan Ljeskovic, announced an appeal, claiming the verdict reflected pressure from politicians and part of the NGO sector.

But Tijana Zivkovic, legal representative of the Bakija family, said after the trial that the verdict brought some sort of satisfaction for the victim’s family.

Prosecutors sought the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for Djokaj, as did the family of the victim.

According to the prosecution, the 19-year-old was targeted after she refused to renew the relationship with Djokaj that had been broken a few months earlier before fatal events.

During that time, he chased her, sent her messages through fake profiles on social networks, threatened her, said that it was not over between them, and said her life was in his hands.

On September 30, 2021, Djokaj appeared in front of her family home and shot the teen dead with a gun after she repeated to him that she did not want to live with him and did not love him.

After Seila’s murder, protests were organised, calling out institutions because the victim had repeatedly reported the threats to the police. Although protesters said the responsibility of all those in the chain of protection against violence should be determined, this has not happened to date.

A group of citizens and several NGOs also protested last year in front of the Higher Court in Podgorica over the verdict in the case of another murder, of Zimrita Nerda.

Their protest came after the High Court sentenced Dalibor Nikolić to only 12 years in prison in the first instance after he brutally beat his pregnant wife Zimrita Nerda with a bat and fists in 2022. As a result, Nerda died a few days later.

Rights groups demanded the introduction of femicide as a separate criminal offence. The government replied that it would be considered in changes to the Criminal Code planned for the second half of 2024.