Kosovo MP Sparks Controversy by Showing ‘War Rape Photo’

Flora Brovina, an MP from the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, sparked angry reactions on Thursday when she showed a photograph to media which she said showed three Serbian soldiers raping an ethnic Albanian woman during the war.

Brovina showed the image to media in the corridor of the Kosovo Assembly during a debate about a parliamentary resolution accusing Serbia of committing genocide during the war.

"It's like we have been silenced and we are prevented from having the opportunity to speak about these things," Brovina said during the debate about the proposed resolution.

After the incident, the Kosovo special prosecution said it has opened an investigation into the photograph, the authenticity of which has not yet been independently verified.

But other female Kosovo politicians reacted furiously to Brovina's move, calling it unethical and inhuman.

MP Saranda Bogujevci, from the opposition Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party, argued the photograph should not have been made public.

"Mrs. Brovina, I'm sorry but what you did is completely wrong. You showed the victim and you say she's alive. Imagine how she feels. This is not treating a person with dignity," said Bogujevci, who is a war victim herself.

Bogujevci asked Kosovo media outlets that have published the picture to remove it from their sites.

"It is a request from family members and they are concerned," she said.

Former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, who advocated for the rights of wartime rape victims while she was in office, also criticised the publication of the photo, saying that it could lead to the victim's identity being discovered.

"The publication of such images that show the rape of a woman by Serbian military forces during the...