Office for Kosovo and Metohija: 27 years later, no justice for massacred Serb farmers from Staro Gracko

A memorial for the Staro Gracko victims of NATO aggression, and of Albanian terrorists; Photo: N. Zejak

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated today, on the 27th anniversary of the massacre of 14 Serb farmers from the village of Staro Gracko near Lipljan in Kosovo and Metohija, that no one has yet been held accountable for this crime, and that Serbia will continue to insist on shedding light on the case and punishing those responsible.

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The statement recalls that on July 23, 1999, 14 Serbs were shot and killed while out in their fields, and added that this monstrous crime happened with international forces present in the provinces, which "did not prevent the rampage of (Albanian) terrorists and protect our compatriots, and the same is true about many other murders of Serbs."

"The ideology of hatred that motivated the terrorists to take the lives of these innocent Serbs in a cruel way is unfortunately recognizable to this day in the political practice of numerous actors in Pristina, which has resulted in the systematic disenfranchisement of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija that has been ongoing for years," the statement said.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija noted that even 27 years later, the perpetrators have not been brought to justice, while the investigation was closed due to the alleged lack of evidence.

The state of Serbia, however, the Office said, will continue to reverently remember and honor the victims and demand that the perpetrators and those who ordered the crime be found and punished.

"The families and friends of the murdered Serb farmers deserve truth and justice, and shedding light on this and other crimes committed against Serbs is a civilizational and humane obligation for those who are most responsible for creating the political and social climate in Kosovo and Metohija today," the statement concluded.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija reminded that fire from automatic weapons was opened on a group of Serb farmers, resulting in the murders of Milovan Jovanovic (b. 1969), Jovica Zivic (1970), Radovan Zivic (1967), Andrija Odalovic (1967), Slobodan Janicijevic (1965), Mile Janicijevic (1957), Momcilo Janicijevic (1946), Stanimir Dekic (1955), Bozidar Dekic (1947), Sasa Cvejic (1973), Ljubisa Cvejic (1939), Nikola Stojanovic (1936), Miodrag Tepsic (1951), and Novica Janicijevic(1981), who was only 17 years old at the time of his death.

The massacre took place in the evening of July 23, 1999, in the village of Bujance, some 20 kilometers south of Pristina, as the victims, farmers from the nearby village of Staro Gracko, were returning home after a day spent harvesting their fields.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)