The Roma community of the city of Korça protested today in front of the court regarding the charges brought against Dritson Kurti, who risks being sentenced to several years in prison, after having sex with a minor, with whom he cohabited and fathered a child.
The president of the Roma Community Association of Korça, Avni Kallo, has asked the court to release the 21-year-old because, according to him, the Roma community has a tradition of marrying at a young age.
"They are keeping him in prison unjustly. But we have it as a canon, as a tradition that our elders have left us. We know the law, but little by little we will regulate it. We have been getting married since the cradle. What were you born with, boy? What were you born with, girl? We will get you engaged. We call on the Prosecutor's Office and the Court to let him go home because he has a child to raise. His mother is dead, his father has abandoned him," said Kallo, writes A2 CNN.
The same thing has been requested by Dritson Kurti's grandmother and cohabitant, who want the 21-year-old to be released from prison.
"Please release my husband. He didn't take me by force, he took me to his family. He didn't throw me out on the street. He took me to start a family. I don't even have the paternity of the child myself. The judge asked for 25 years in prison. What did he do to deserve 25 years in prison. I had one job, he worked two jobs and brought food," said Dritson Kurti's cohabitant, writes A2 CNN.
A relative of the 21-year-old said that she too was married at the age of 13 and built a healthy family, but was not convicted for such a thing.
"I got married at 13 and started a healthy, strong family and live like a lady. We have a tradition. If a 19-20 year old maid went, no one would take her. She would be taken by a man with children. I took the man with love. If she did three grades as a maid, someone else would take her from school," she said, writes A2 CNN.
The Korça Prosecution Office has closed the investigation on the charge of "sexual intercourse with a minor" and based on this charge, the 21-year-old risks up to 25 years in prison. (A2 Televizion)
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