NOVO BRDO

1. Missing
3. Abducted
2.1 Free
2.1.1. Released by the KLA
2.1.1. Escaped
2.2. Detained

OBILIĆ (OBILIQ)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed

ORAHOVAC (RRAHOVEC)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.2. Escaped
1.1.3. Set free

PEĆ

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA
1.2.2. Escaped
3. Detained

PODUJEVO (PODUJEVË)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed

NOVO BRDO

1. Missing

Vasić, Dragica (F, 80), Serb, from Klobukar (Kllobukar), Novo Brdo Municipality – disappeared after 14 June 1999.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM

Stanković, Dragan (M, 19), Serb, from Klobukar, Novo Brdo Municipality – disappeared on 4 July 1999.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM

Stojanović, Stanko (M, 52), Serb, from Klobukar, Novo Brdo Municipality – disappeared on 4 July 1999.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM

3. Abducted

Marinković, Goran (M, 27); Pavić, Živoin (M, 48), Serbs, from Slivovo (Slivovë), Priština Municipality; Miljković, Predrag (M, 38), Serbian Serb, from Smederevo, driver – abducted on 19 June 1999 in Labljane (Llabjan), Novo Brdo Municipality.

Mrs. Marinković recounted that she and her husband left Slivovo on 18 June for Gračanica from where they intended to proceed to Serbia. At noon the next day, Marinković, his parents, her brother and a friend went back to Slivovo in a car and tractor with trailer to move some belongings to Gračanica. In the village, Marinković met a neighbor, Živoin Pavić, who was packing to depart for Serbia. As the truck he had hired was not full, Marinković asked him to take some of his belongings too. Marinković’s parents, brother-in-law and friend returned to Gračanica at 7 p.m. while Marinković, Pavić and the truck driver, Predrag Miljković from Smederevo, started out for Serbia. The truck was a blue MAN (license plates PA 836-54), and its trailer (license plate PA 19-24) was covered with a tarpaulin on which was stenciled “Jugoslavi” (the last two letters “ja” were missing).

When Marinković’s parents returned to Slivovo on 7 July, an Albanian villager told them their son, Pavić and Miljković were stopped at about 7 p.m. on 19 June by some 15 armed KLA members, some in uniform and others in civilian clothes, at the turnoff to Novo Brdo in Labljane village where the KLA had set up a checkpoint. Among these KLA men were Arif, known also as “Ćopa,” his sons, and his nephews Enver and Mustafa Abazi. The latter was in charge at the checkpoint. Marinković, Pavić and Miljković were held there for about half an hour and then taken to Mramor, a village in Priština Municipality. Their truck remained for a time in the school yard in Labljane and was then moved into to the yard of Arif’s house. After two days in Mramor, the three Serbs were transferred to the KLA headquarters in Zlaš (Zlash) village.

The Albanian villager also told Marinković’s parents that a meeting was held at the KLA headquarters in Zlaš on what to do with the three abducted Serbs. Some participants who knew Marinković urged his release, others said he should be held for subsequent exchange. The villager said he had no information on Pavić and Miljković, adding that he was certain that Marinković was alive and imprisoned.

The UNMIK police later detained this Albanian and a Slivovo Serb, M.P., on suspicion of involvement in the abduction. They were questioned in separate rooms but the Albanian heard M.P. say that he had told the KLA that Marinković would be passing through Labljane in a truck on 19 June in order to strengthen his business ties with them. M.P. had started out from Slivovo five minutes before Marinković and described to Arif at the checkpoint the truck in Marinković was riding.

According to the Church Committee, KFOR identified the abductors as Raif Mustafi and his sons Azem, Tefik and Faik; Enver Avdulji (Enver Avdyli), his brothers Skender and Gazmen; Abazi Mustafi, his brothers Enver and Murtez, and his nephew Raif Mustafi.
Source: HLC, witness statement; Church Committee, Kosovo

2.1 Free

2.1.1. Released by the KLA

J.M. (M), Serb, from Vlasce, Gnjilane Municipality – abducted by the KLA on 15 June 1999 at Novi Brdo and released a few hours later.
A witness stated to the HLC that his neighbor J.M. was abducted by KLA members around noon on 15 June at Novo Brdo and taken to the police station building where he was beaten and threatened with death. When his brother heard that J.M. was being held at Novo Brdo, he went to the home of one of the most prominent Albanians in Vlasce, abducted his son and held him in his house. He told the young Albanian’s father that he would kill his son unless he arranged for J.M. to be released. J.M. was allowed to go at 4 p.m. that day.
Source: HLC, witness statement

2.1.1. Escaped

Witness wished to remain anonymous (M, 28), Serb, from Vlastica, Gnjilane Municipality; his two friends – abducted by the KLA on 14 June 1999 in the Nova Kolonija neighborhood of Novi Brdo; escaped several hours later from the police station building.

The witness described to the HLC what happened:
“I was on the way from Gračanica to Novo Brdo with two friends. We were stopped by the KLA in the Nova Kolonija neighborhood in the center of Novo Brdo. They were wearing camouflage uniforms with black T-shirts underneath their blouses, KLA caps, and were armed with 762 rifles, M48 carbines and hunting rifles. I recognized some of them: Nedžat Vlasi (Nexhat Vllasi), the KLA commander in Novo Brdo, Avdulj Klokoći (Avdyl Klokoqi) who used to be a bus conductor; and a teacher from Marevce (Marefc) village. They addressed us in Albanian because, they said, they didn’t want to speak Serbian. They asked who we were, what we were doing there and where we were going. Then they searched the three of us and the car, and took the pistol they found in it. They asked why we had the gun, if we wanted to kill some more Albanians with it, hadn’t we had enough of killing. They took us to the police station.
“A guard, in a black uniform and with a red armband, was standing outside. He took us to the last office on the right at the end of the corridor. The three of us, Nedžad and another three Albanians I didn’t know were in the office. They weren’t over 30 and also wore camouflage uniforms. All four fired questions at us, though Nedžad was the roughest. They asked when and where we had done our military service, if any of us had been on the police force, and asked for the names of Albanians in Vlasce, Bunjaci, Labljane and Klobukare who cooperated with Serbs. Our replies were very brief and I had the impression that they were doing most of the talking and making their own conclusions. During the questioning they several times put knives or a pistol against our necks, in our mouths and under our chins, threatening to kill us. They also slapped us at times. At one point, Nedžad told one of the soldiers to take us into the woods and finish us off. Some time later, they led us into the office on the other side of the corridor. An overweight KLA soldier with a beard and the guard were in this office and they continued the questioning. They punched us on the head, slapped us and threatened to slit our throats. Then they took us back to the first officer. They shunted us back and forth several times.
“At 4.30 p.m. I heard someone come into the police station. They quickly hid their weapons behind the door and went to the entrance. I heard some foreign language and realized they were greeting KFOR soldiers. Since we hadn’t been tied up, we took advantage of the situation and walked out of the station. I saw by their reaction that they wanted to keep us there, but they couldn’t because four KFOR soldiers were talking with Nedžad and some other KLA men. The KFOR soldiers paid no attention to us. We were afraid to say anything to them because we saw they were very friendly with the KLA soldiers and none of us spoke English anyway and couldn’t have made ourselves understood. Our car was outside the station, a bit banged-up. I had the spare key on me. We got inside and drove to Gračanica.”
Source: HLC, witness statement.

2.2. Detained

S.B. (M, 20), medical technician; four elderly women, Serbs, all from Slivovo – detained at the entrance to Labljane, Novo Brdo Municipality on 19 June 1999, released 15 minutes later.
S.B. described the incident to the HLC:

“At 11 a.m. that day I went by tractor with four elderly village women to Gračanica. At the crossroad before the turnoff to Labljance, a dozen armed KLA members got out of the trenches by the road. The soldier who signaled me to stop was about 30, with a beard, in a black uniform and cap with a KLA badge. The soldiers were carrying automatic rifles, one had a carbine and another a semi-automatic rifle. I knew them all by sight; they were from Labljane. It was then that I noticed soldiers with guns trained on us standing at the windows of the nearby houses. The soldier who had stopped us aimed his gun at my head and ordered us in Albanian to get off the tractor. He cursed my Serb mother and asked who had torched Albanian houses in Slivovo. He asked about weapons and I told him I had none. Three soldiers guarded us while the others walked away a bit and discussed what to do with us. They talked about taking me to the prison in Marevce near Priština. Then they searched my things and when they saw I really didn’t have a weapon they said I could go. They also searched the women. They fired a shot into the air and let us go.”

The witness was detained for about 15 minutes. He and the elderly women reached Gračanica safely.
Source: HLC, witness statement

OBILIĆ (OBILIQ)

1. Missing

Milosavljević, Zmajko (M), journalist, from Kosovska Mitrovica; his brother Milosavljević (first name unknown), Serbs – disappeared in late August 1999 in the vicinity of Obilić.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM

Stolić, Branislav; an unidentified man, Serbs – disappeared on 4 November 1999 in Obilić.
Source: Pronadjena tri tela [Three Bodies Found], BLIC, 11 November 1999.

2. Abducted

1.1. Killed

Stanojević, Miladija (F, 80), Serb, from Obilić – disappeared on the night of 16/17 November 1999; her body was found on 28 December 1999.

The son-in-law of Mrs. Stanojević, an elderly and ill woman confined to her bed, came to her apartment in the morning of 17 November to give her breakfast. He found the apartment ransacked and empty.

Mrs. Stanojević’s body was found on 28 December in a canal near the thermoelectric power plant in Obilić.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo; Kidnapovani Milija Mićunović i Radivoje Lukić [Milija Mičunović and Radivoje Lukić Kidnapped], POLITIKA, 30 November 1999.

ORAHOVAC (RRAHOVEC)

1. Missing

Todić, Miroslav (M, 50), Serb, from Velika Hoča, Orahovac Municipality, employee of Orvin company in Orahovac – last seen on 23 March 1999 in his field between Velika Hoča and Brestovac (Brestoc) villages.

Mrs. Todić stated that her husband went to his company at 8 a.m. on 23 March and then to his vineyard where he worked until 2 p.m. He then took the tractor to work in a field he owned between Velika Hoča and the all-Albanian village of Brestovac. When he left home, he told his wife that a old Albanian friend, Ismet Beriša (Ismet Berisha) from Brestovac, had invited him to drop by for coffee when he finished in the field. Beriša’s house is located about 500 meters from the field. Her husband did not return home.

After KFOR’s deployment in Kosovo, Mrs. Todić asked members of the German contingent stationed in Velika Hoća to take her to Brestovac to speak with Beriša. KFOR members escorted her to a point midway between the two villages where Beriša was waiting by agreement. He told her that he and his family were in Albania at the time of her husband’s abduction, and promised to make inquiries about Todić and let her know if he heard anything. Their conversation was curtailed by the arrival of two KLA members in black uniforms and carrying Heckler guns. They approached the KFOR soldiers and talked with them in German. Beriša was frightened and refused to say anything more to Mrs. Todić. The KFOR soldiers then told to her to get in the armored personnel carrier. The KLA men drove Beriša away in their car.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Isaku, Skeljzen (Isaku Shkelzen) (M), Rom, from Orahovac – disappeared after 24 March 1999.
Source: Roma in the Kosovo Conflict, ERRC, November 1999

Begović, Jovan (M, 75); Begović, Nikola (M, 45); Begović, Simo (M); Begović, Blažo (M), Croatian Serbs, refugees – disappeared on 16 June 1999 in Orahovac.

It is generally believed in Orahovac that the bodies of these four refugees are among the unidentified remains recovered by KFOR at Brnjača (Bernjakë) on 22 June. No relatives or close friends were able to come to Orahovac to identify the remains.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Bulić, Budimir (M, 47), Montenegrin Montenegrin, from Berane, resided in Orahovac (2/4 Peke Tepavčevića St.), employee of Social Work Center – disappeared on the night of 18/19 June 1999.

Mrs. Bulić stated that she and her son moved to the Serb quarter in Orahovac on 18 June, intending to proceed with a group of people to Serbia the next day. Her son realized that he had forgotten to take some personal papers from their apartment and returned for them about 7 p.m. Somewhat later, she called from a friend’s apartment to check if her son had arrived at their home and to tell him where she would be waiting for him. He answered the phone, told her he had retrieved the papers and was on his way back. He did not turn up.

The next day, Mrs. Bulić went to their apartment to look for her son. She saw their television set and other belongings in the lobby. The door of her apartment was open, belongings were strewn around and there was no one inside. She heard noises from the next-door apartment, which belonged to an Albanian who lived and worked in Switzerland and, believing he had returned, rang the doorbell. Four unknown Albanians, two of whom in KLA uniforms, opened the door and asked why she had come there without permission. When one moved toward her she said a KFOR escort was waiting for her outside and quickly left. Mrs. Bulić fled Orahovac to Montenegro.

Orahovac Serbs believe that a body found on 22 June was that of Budimir Bulić. Since it had been decapitated, neighbors did not allow Mrs. Bulić to view the remains and no positive identification was made.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Simić, Arsa (M, 76), Serb, from Orahovac – last seen on 19 June 1999.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

Halimi, Ali Tasim (Hallimi, Alli Tasim) (M, 25), Rom, from Orahovac – last seen on 21 June 1999.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Hamza, Haljit Škeljzen (Hamza, Halit Shkelzen) (M, 34), Rom, from Orahovac, employee of 18 Novembar plastics factory – last seen on 21 June 1999.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Kazić, Siniša (M, 35), Serb, from Orahovac, deaf-mute – disappeared on 30 June 1999.

Kazić’s brother said Siniša went to see his sister about 11 a.m. on 30 June, and after that visited with a friend, Nebojša Grković who lived in the Serb quarter near the church. He left for home at about 2 p.m. but never arrived. His family reported his disappearance to KFOR the same day.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Grković, Ljubiša (M, 44), Serb, from Orahovac, porter at the 18 November plastics factory, mildly retarded - last seen about 4 p.m. on 4 July 1999 in a street in the Albanian quarter of Orahovac.

A relative who was the last person to see Grković believes that he went to the Albanian quarter to check up on the apartments of his brothers who had fled Kosovo on 16 June.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Krstić, Snežana (F, 30), Serb, from Orahovac, deaf-mute – last seen on 5 July 1999 in Orahovac.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Veličković, Trifun (M, 74), Serb, from Orahovac – last seen on 28 July 1999.

Veličković’s son recounted that his father took his goats to their vineyard at the reservoir near the Muslim cemetery at 5.30 p.m. on 28 July. He usually stayed until 7.30 p.m. and on the way home went to see three other Serbs who also pastured their goats in the vineyards on the hills above Orahovac. When he did not return at his usual time, the son reported his disappearance and went to search for him with a KFOR patrol at 11.30 p.m. The next day, Veličković’s brother, who had also been searching for him since 4 a.m., found his shoe near the house of Hasan Malabazi (Hasan Mallabazi). When the son went to inquire with Milabazi about his father, the Albanian began to cry and swore he knew nothing. A neighbor of Veličković told him he had seen the unattended goats at the reservoir about 6 p.m. that day.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Stojanović, Stojan (M); his wife Stojanović, Brankica, Serbs, from Nakarada, Kosovo Polje Municipality – disappeared on 16 August 1999 on the road to Orahovac where they were to attend the funeral of a relative.
Source: Ubijena dva deteta, šest osoba ranjeno [Two Children Killed, Six Persons Wounded], BLIC, 18 August 1999

Mavrić, Mladjan (M, 36), Serb, from Velika Hoča, Orahovac Municipality – disappeared on 12 October 1999 on the road to Velika Hoča.

Mavrić's brother stated that Mladjan left Velika Hoča for the Serb quarter of Orahovac at 9.30 a.m. to buy some things he needed for his cafe. He finished shopping at around noon and was last seen by a friend, Zoran, when he set off for Velika Hoča in his car. The family reported his disappearance to KFOR the same day.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Murselji, Mazlum (Murseli, Mazllum) (49), Rom, from Orahovac - disappeared on 16 October 1999 in the Orahovac area.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Lukić, Radivoje (30), Serb, from Orahovac, disappeared on 27 December 1999 in the Serb quarter in Orahovac.

Lukić’s brother recounted that Lukić went to see a friend at 7.30 p.m. on 27 December. He left his friend's house at 9 p.m. and disappeared. His family immediately reported his disappearance to KFOR.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Rašić, Milorad (M), Serb, from Orahovac (Dragoljuba Jankovića St.), employee of Termovent company – disappeared on 25 February 2000.

Rasić’s brother said Rasić was visiting with a friend on 19 February. He left at 1 p.m. and went to a billiard parlor located some 100 meters from the Albanian quarter of the town. He was there for a very short time as he saw through the window his old Albanian friend and colleague at Termovent, Bajram Zlonoga, and went outside to greet him. Zlonoga invited him to his home for coffee and they proceeded together to his house. Rasić was not seen again. His family reported his disappearance to KFOR the next day.
Source: HLC, witness statement

2. Abducted

Grković, Svetislav (M. 66), employee of 18 Novembar plastics factory; Vitošević, Marko (61), Serbs, from Orahovac (Svetosavska St.) – abducted by the KLA on 16 June 1999.²³
Source: HLC, witness statement

²³  Witness statement on the abduction of Grković and Vitošević: Orahovac, 2.2.2. Escaped.
 

Hamza, Jusuf (M, 35), Rom, from Orahovac (Slobodana Penezića St.), deaf-mute – abducted by the KLA from his home on 18 June 1999.

Hamza’s son stated that two armed KLA members in camouflage uniforms and caps came into their yard at 7 a.m. on 18 June, while another remained at the gate. One of them, of larger build and with insignia of rank on his shoulder board, had a stammer. They asked if there were weapons in the house. Hamza searched for a medical certificate that he was deaf-mute but, before he was able to find it, the KLA men led him out of the yard and through the vineyards toward the town center. His son immediately reported the abduction to KFOR.

Three days later, on 21 June, two members of the Egyptian ethnic community²⁴  from Orahovac, Beni and Dia, came to the Hamza home and told his son to go to the town center to get his father. The son did not trust them and did not go.
Source: HLC, witness statement

²⁴  Many persons referred to as “Gypsies” in Kosovo consider themselves “Egyptians” and not Roma.
 

Jelić, Marko (M, 31), Serb, from Orahovac, economist, employee of Termovent company in Orahovac – abducted from his home by the KLA on 20 June 1999.

Three armed men of about 30 years of age came to Jelić’s apartment on 20 June. In the presence of his parents, wife and five children, they said in Albanian that they were members of the KLA and had come to take him to their headquarters for questioning. They said he would be brought home immediately afterwards. They led him away on foot. Jelić never returned.

His family stayed in Orahovac to the end of August 1999 when they fled to Montenegro.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Majmarević, Gradimir (M, 54), employee of municipal sanitation department in Orahovac; Vitošević, Siniša (38), electrician, employee of power distribution company in Orahovac, Serbs – abducted in Krajište near Orahovac on 22 June 1999.

Mrs. Majmarević recounted that her husband and Vitošević went to Vitošević’s weekend cottage in Krajište about noon on 22 June in a red Renault 4 car to water the farm animals Vitošević kept there. They said they would be back very soon. When they had not returned for some time, her son went to look for them. He found the cottage door broken down and no one inside. A neighbor told Mrs. Majmarević he had seen with the aid of binoculars when two Albanians, one of whom he identified as Jupu Vebiju (Jupu Vehbiu), led her husband and Vitošević out of the cottage and took them to the police station in Orahovac. The Majamarević’s car remained parked outside the police station that day but was moved to the firehouse on 23 June. The abduction was witnessed also by an Albanian neighbor, D.G., who was working in his vineyard near the cottage. He immediately informed a group of Serbs who were pasturing their animals in the vineyards. Mrs. Majmarević reported the abduction to KFOR the next day.

Four days later, I.Č., an Albanian friend of the family, told Mrs. Majmarević that the names of her husband and Vitošević were on a KLA list of war criminals and that they would be tried. In the month following the abduction, a man who spoke poor Serbian telephoned Mrs Majmarević every evening about 8 o’clock and asked for the names of Serbian police officers. Two months after her husband’s abduction, she received an anonymous phone call from a man who threatened to kill her and her children.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Jeftić, Milica (F, 80), Serb, from Orahovac – last seen on 5 July 1999 when she left the Serb quarter to check up on her house near the Orvin Hotel in the town center.

Mrs Jeftić’s friends heard that she was stopped by KLA members who took her away.
Source: HLC, witness statement

(Last name unknown) Skeljzen (Shkelzen) (M), Rom – abducted by the KLA before 5 July 1999.²⁵
Source: HLC, witness statement

²⁵  Witness statement on the abduction of Skelzen: Orahovac, 2.2.1. Released by the KLA.
 

Dedić, Boban (M, 37), Serb, from Orahovac, accountant, employee of Žitopromet agricultural combine in Orahovac – abducted about 1 p.m. on 17 July. His father, Predrag Dedić, was detained when he went to inquire about Dedić at the KLA headquarters, but was set free the same day by a KFOR member.

Mrs Dedić stated that she and her son went to their apartment to pick up some belongings. Their car broke down on the way. A KLA member approached and whispered a warning to them to leave immediately. She and her son went into an abandoned Serb house close by but were followed by a group of KLA men who led out Dedić out of the house, pushed him into their car and drove him away. They told Mrs Dedić that her son would be brought back in 15 minutes.
Dedić’s father, Predrag, who had in the meantime heard of his son’s abduction, went to the KLA headquarters to demand his release. As soon as Predrag Dedić entered the building, he too was taken prisoner. When her husband and son failed to return, Mrs Dedić notified KFOR. Stefan, a soldier of the German tank unit with KFOR, went to the KLA headquarters and demanded that Dedić and his father be released. The KLA members claimed that no persons by those names were in the building. The German soldier shouted the name of Predrag Dedić who heard him, managed to get away from the KLA members holding him and ran into the corridor. The KFOR soldier took Dedić by the arm and led him out. Two KLA men caught up with them at the exit, seized Dedić and took him in the direction of the Jugopetrol gasoline station. The German soldier went after them in his tank, pulled Dedić inside and drove him to the Serb quarter. After the incident, the KLA never allowed the German soldier into the building again. Boban Dedić’s whereabouts remain unknown.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Zenuni, Iljber (Zenuni, Ylber) (M, 23), Rom, from Novo Selo, Djakovica Municipality – disappeared on 18 July 1999.

Zenuni came to Orahovac for his wife who was visiting her parents. The family subsequently learned that he was stopped near the hotel by four Albanians who pushed him into a car and drove him away.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Pelević, Ratko (M. 64), Serb, from Orahovac – abducted from his home during the summer of 1999.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

Matić, Slobodan (M), Serb, from Orahovac – abducted by unidentified Albanians before 30 October 1999 in Orahovac.
Source: Kosovo Serbs and Gypsies Feel Trapped in Orahovac, KOSOVO DAILY NEWS, 31 October 1999

1.1. Killed

Pelević, Peko (M, 64), Serb, from Orahovac (Svetosavska St.) – abducted by the KLA on 16 June 1999 and beaten to death.²⁶
Source: HLC, witness statement

²⁶  Witness statement on the abduction and killing of Pelević: Orahovac, 2.2.2. Escaped.
 

Grković, Panta (M, 64), Serb, from Orahovac (34, Svetosavska St.), retired, abducted from his home by the KLA on 17 June 1999. His body was found on 22 June 1999 in the woods at Brnjača near the Termovent plant, Potočane (Potoçan), Orahovac Municipality.

Mrs. Grković recounted that she and her husband went to the home of a neighbor, Miroslava Filipović, to wait there for KFOR to escort them and two Serb women to the Serb quarter of the town. Six KLA members came to the Filipović house at 9.30 p.m., some of whom lived in the same street: Faredin “Faduš” Hondozi (Faredin "Fadush" Hondozi) (18), Ramadan Bugari (24), the son of Seli Bugari (Sellie Bugari), and a Roman Catholic Albanian known by the nickname “Blacksmith.” The other three KLA men were also young and spoke Serbian. They demanded weapons and money from those present. As Grković’s sons by his first marriage were police officers, the KLA men believed that he had a large quantity of weapons. After searching the Filipović house and yard, the KLA men led out Grković, pushed him into a Zastava car and drove away in the direction of the Jugopetrol gasoline station.

When the KFOR escort failed to appear, Mrs. Grković went home and found that it had been looted during the night. She reported her husband’s abduction to KFOR the next morning. Over the next few days, KLA members came daily to her home, asking about weapons and the whereabouts of her stepsons.

On 22 June, local Albanians reported to KFOR that they had found four bodies in a woods at Brnjača near the Termovent factory. KFOR asked Orahovac Mayor Andjelko Kolašinac to view the remains and to summon family members for identification. Mrs Grković identified her husband’s remains. She stated that all the bodies bore signs of violence; one was decapitated and could not be identified. The other two bodies were believed by locals to be Serb refugees from Croatia. No positive identification was made as their family members were not in Orahovac. The decapitated body was believed to be that of Budimir Bulić. To spare her the shock, neighbors did not allow his mother to view the remains so that no positive identification was made.

Mrs Grković left Orahovac with UNHCR assistance on 8 September and fled to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Velimirović, Mihajlo (M, 55), Croatian Serb, refugee - abducted on 18 June 1999.
Velimirović was abducted on his way back from the Serb quarter where he had taken his mother. His body was subsequently found in Orahovac.
Source: HLC, witness statement; U dvostrukom paklu [In a Double Hell], VEČERNJE NOVOSTI, 23 March 2000

1.2. Free

1.2.1. Released by the KLA

C.M. (M, 70), Serb, from Orahovac, retired – abducted by the KLA from his home on 17 June 1999, questioned and released several hours later.

C.M. recounted that four armed and uniformed KLA members came to his apartment about 8 a.m. on 17 June. He recognized Verhan Cena, called “Blacksmith,” who was the oldest. The other three were between 20 and 25 years of age. They searched the apartment, took the 2,000 dinars they found, and demanded that C.M. hand over his weapons. C.M. gave them his hunting rifle, two pistols and a pair of binoculars. He described what happened next:

“Blacksmith hit me twice with a club, on the head and body. I demanded to see their commander. They took me first to the firehouse where I was held under guard for about an hour. Then they took me to the former police station where I was questioned by Ismet Tara, commander of the 124th Brigade of the KLA. He behaved correctly during the two hours he questioned me. Another three KLA members were present, one in uniform and two in civilian clothes. Then somebody called on the phone to say that Tara was wanted urgently in Prizren and he left. I continued making my statement to the other KLA commander. As I was doing this, they brought Cvetko Šorić, an Orahovac man, into the office. I realized then that all those held at the firehouse were either taken to the police station to be questioned by the KLA and then released, or to the camp on the Brestovačke slopes. I left the police station together with Cvetko Šorić and commander Tara, the one who had questioned me, gave me a permit to move around Orahovac freely.”

A few days after the incident, C.M. and his wife left Orahovac and fled to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Isaku, Adrian (M, 19), Rom, from Orahovac – abducted by the KLA on 27 June 1999.

Isaku’s friend stated that he was abducted on the road between Djakovica and Orahovac. He was reportedly released in September 1999, after which he and his parents fled to Serbia. No independent confirmation of the report was available.
Source: HLC, witness statement; Roma in the Kosovo Conflict, ERRC, November 1999

T.L. (M, 22), Rom, from Prizren, abducted by the KLA in Velika Kruša, Orahovac Municipality, and held for several hours.

In his statement to the European Roma Rights Center, T.L. said a red tractor on which two men and a woman were riding stopped outside his father’s house in Velika Kruša (Krushe e Madhe) at 4.30 p.m. on 5 July. Saying they were KLA members, they demanded that T.L. go with them their headquarters to make a statement on how many Roma were killed during the war. He refused and one of the men drew a knife and forced him to climb on the tractor. Then T.L.’s relatives and friends gathered around. The KLA members said they had no intention of beating up T.L. and that his relatives could come with them to make sure. T.L.’s father and a female relative joined them on the tractor.
They drove to a private house on which the flag of neighboring Albania had been hoisted, and led T.L. into one of the rooms. Two KLA men, one in uniform and the other in civilian clothes who was typing, were in the room. The uniformed one asked T.L. where he had been during the war and if he had taken part in the fighting. He said they had a witness who had confirmed that T.L. was a member of Željko “Arkan” Ražnatović’s paramilitary group. T.L. was then taken into another room where he saw a Roma man from Orahovac he knew only by the first name of Škeljzen (Shkelzen). Škeljzen, who was heavily bruised and bleeding, told the KLA men that T.L. was a paramilitary. The KLA men showed T.L. a notebook in which Škeljzen had written this down. The KLA members then started beating and torturing both the Roma men. After some time, T.L. was forced to put on a Yugoslav Army uniform. The Roma men were beaten for four hours, after which T.L. was taken out to the tractor where his father and relative were still waiting. They were driven to the nearby hills and, after threatening him with death if he told anyone what had happened to him, the KLA men left them there. T.L. never learned the fate of Škeljzen.
Source: Roma From Kosovo Testify, ERRC, 2 August 1999

Rustemi, Fadilj (Rustemi, Fadil) (M) Rom, from Orahovac – abducted by the KLA on several occasions during the summer of 1999, questioned and beaten and then released.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

1.1.2. Escaped

P.S. (M, 73), Serb, from Mala Kruša (Krushe e Vogël), Orahovac Municipality – abducted by the KLA on 13 June 1999; S.P. (M, 77), Serb, from Orahovac, retired – abducted by the KLA on 15 June 1999; K.N. (M, 60), Serb, from Orahovac (13/5 Milorada Popovića St.), post office employee – abducted by the KLA on 16 June 1999; all three escaped on 22 June 1999.

The granddaughter of P.S. recounted that her grandfather was just about to take his cows to pasture when a large group of armed and uniformed KLA members came into their yard, broke down the front door of the house and dragged P.S. inside. They asked in Albanian where the other Mala Kruša Serbs were and where they had concealed their weapons. When P.S. replied that he did not know, one KLA man knocked him unconscious with a blow to the head with a thick wooden pole. P.S. was put on a tractor and taken to Celina (Celinë) village, Orahovac Municipality. He spent two days locked in a shed of a private house which had been taken over by the KLA. He was questioned, beaten and denied food and water. On 15 June, an Albanian journalist from Prizren came, grabbed P.S. by the throat and started choking him, saying repeatedly,” Do you Serbs know what you did to us?” and then told the KLA guards to kill P.S. immediately.
Later that day, P.S. was taken to Nogavac (Nagafc), Orahovac Municipality, and held in a private house until 17 June. Among the KLA members there, he recognized three of his neighbors in Mala Kruša, Murat and another two he knew only by sight. None of them were over the age of 20. They did not abuse him severely and gave him food and water.

In the morning of 17 June, P.S. was taken to the KLA prison in the former police station in Orahovac. KLA men led him into a cell, ordered him to strip naked, and started beating him. At one point, two Serbs, S.P. and K.N., were brought into the cell. P.S. told his granddaughter that he was flogged with thick ropes every day. When he lost consciousness, the KLA men revived him by throwing water over him, and then resumed beating him. There was only one wooden bench in the cell on which P.S. slept; S.P. and K.N. slept on the bare concrete floor.

The son of S.P. told the HLC that about 10 KLA members in camouflage uniforms and carrying automatic rifles came to their house on 15 June. They demanded that S.P. hand over to them his weapons – a hunting rifle, pistol and M48 rifle. Among the KLA men, the witness recognized Ziber Miftari (Zymber Myftari), a farmer from Orahovac, who was in a KLA police uniform – black shirt and black cap with a KLA badge. Though a search of the house produced no weapons, S.P. was taken to the former police station in Orahovac. The next day, his son handed over the weapons to the KLA men who had taken his father. The receipt he was given was signed by Hajlili Čardakuj (Halili Çarabakuja).

K.N.’s daughter stated that a large group of armed and uniformed men came to the family’s home on 16 June. They beat K.N. with their rifle butts on the head, back and legs and, after searching the apartment, led him away in his pyjamas.

At 9 p.m. on 22 June, P.S., S.P. and K.N. saw a KFOR soldier in the corridor of the police station. Somewhat later, an acquaintance of S.P. and a member of the KLA came into their cell and told them they could escape. He unlocked the door and told them which streets to take to avoid KLA patrols. The three Serbs left the building without encountering any KLA members and fled. P.S. was unable to walk and was carried by K.N. and S.P. through the streets of the town to an abandoned cottage in the hills on its outskirts. They spent the night in the cottage and brought P.S., who was very ill and lost consciousness several times, to the apartment of his daughter at 5 a.m. the next morning.

P.S. and his granddaughter fled Orahovac to Serbia on 10 September 1999. K.N. and S.P. fled to Serbia immediately after their escape.
Source: HLC, witness statement

M.T. (M, 70), Serb, from Orahovac – abducted by the KLA on 16 June 1999 at the same time as Vitošević, Marko (M, 61); and Pelević, Peko (M, 64), also Serbs from Orahovac. All were taken to the KLA headquarters in the Orahovac firehouse where Pelević was beaten to death. After being questioned, M.T., Vitošević and Grković were taken in a van toward Brestovac where Pelević’s body was disposed of. M.T. seized an opportunity to escape. The whereabouts of Vitošević and Grković remain unknown.

M.T. related that five men between 20 and 25 years of age, in civilian clothes and wearing caps with KLA badges, came to his home at 12.30 p.m. on 16 June. He could not recall their names but knew they were from Orahovac and kept pigeons. The KLA men ordered M.T. to hand over his weapons. He gave them his rifle and they searched the house to check whether there were any more firearms. The KLA men then led M.T. to the homes of his neighbors, Svetislav Grković and Marko Vitošević, who also turned in their weapons, and told all three men to come with them to the KLA headquarters for receipts for the guns. They were driven to the KLA headquarters in the firehouse by one Balja (Bala), a Roma photographer, in his white Zastava 125 car, which had been parked outside the Grković house. At the firehouse, the three were taken up to the third floor - Grković to the office of the KLA commander Ismet Tara, and Vitošević and

M.T. to the toilet. M.T. described what happened next:
“There were about 10 young KLA men in the toilet. They began beating us on the head and body with ceramic tiles. Marko blacked out and fell into the excrement in the filthy squatter toilet. Some time later they stopped beating us. A tall woman I knew by the last name Siljka (Silka) - she is known in Orahovac by the nickname Ljilja (Lila) and is married to Adžija Šarković - came in. One of her family was killed in 1998. She had a wooden club with which she started battering me. I tried to protect my head with my hands, and she broke my left wrist. When I said in Albanian that she had worked with my daughter-in-law Vesna at the supermarket and that my wife had helped her mother get her pension, she stopped, threw away the bat and ran out. The KLA men who had been watching began to beat me again. I couldn’t recognize any of them because I kept my head down and tried to ward off the blows with my hands. When I fell to the floor after several blows, they went out and locked the door behind them. I somehow managed to get on my feet and gather the tiles so they wouldn’t use them to beat me again. I put them into small piles and covered them with the excrement. Marko was still lying there unconscious. It was then that I saw a man who had been beaten up at the door of a small bathroom with a shower stall. I went to him and he told me his name was Peka Pelević and asked me to get him some water. I got a glass of water from the wash basin and he drank with great difficulty. Then Zijadin Bugari, who worked as a porter at the clinic, appeared at the door. He was a good friend of mine and I asked him for help, but he just slammed the door.

“Later on, a young man in civilian clothes and a red beret with the KLA badge came in. He pointed his automatic rifle at me and said he would kill me if I didn’t give him money. I gave him my wallet and he took 1,500 dinars. He ordered me to pick up Marko, who was slowly coming to. I sat him up beside me. The KLA man asked Marko where his son, Beli, who used to work as a mailman, was. Marko didn’t hear him and I explained to the KLA man that he was hard of hearing. He cursed my Serb mother and threatened to kill me. When he repeated the question, Marko said his son had been in Australia since 1998. The man demanded money from Marko too, but he didn’t have any on him. Then he left.

“Some time later, R. from Orahovac, an acquaintance of mine, came in. He was surprised to see me. I said I had done nothing wrong and had been brought there for no reason. R. told me to bang on the floor with my feet and scream as if I was being beaten. Five minutes later, another man in civilian clothes came in and R. said there was no need for him to stay, that he could manage beating me on his own. He told me two of his brothers had been killed recently and that he was looking for their killers. He said he couldn’t let me go because there were a lot of soldiers at the headquarters and it would be worth his life if he tried. Then he left.

“I went to Peko to see how he was but there was no sign of life in him any more. At about 11 p.m., two KLA men came and wrapped Peko’s body in a blanket. They led me and Marko out of the toilet and Sveto out of the office of Ismet Tara, and took all three of us to a van parked outside the building. They put Peko’s body inside with us. In the van, Sveta told us Siljka had beaten him too, and that Ismet Tara had told him Marko would be shot because his son supposedly killed some Albanians, and that he would spare Sveta and me.

“F.H., a KLA man I knew, got in the van with us and started to tie our hands. I asked me not to tie mine because of my broken wrist and offered him 200 deutsche marks. He took the money and told me to keep my hands behind my back and pretend they were bound. The van drove off toward Brestovac village, by way of the road to Velika Kruša. Inside, besides F.H., there were Hisen Cena (Hysen Cena) and three young men with automatic rifles. When we turned off the main road to Brestovac, Hisen Cena asked if we wanted to be killed at the place where the Yugoslav Army and police had killed Albanians or somewhere else. I said we didn’t deserve to be killed, that we condemned what had happened, to which Cena replied by cursing our Serb mothers. The van stopped by the vineyards below the Brestovac Slopes. It was dark and raining. As F.H. and Cena were pulling Peko’s body from the van, I took advantage of a moment when no one was watching me, jumped out and ran. They started firing after me and I dropped to the ground and crawled on. I hid in the woods and 15 minutes later heard four individual shots, which weren’t fired in my direction. After that I heard Cena calling to me to give myself up. Soon afterwards I heard the van drive away. I stayed in the woods for another hour, afraid that they would come looking for me. Then I started out through the woods in the direction of Prizren, to Mala Hoča.”

Mrs. Grković stated that five KLA members came to their home at 12.30 p.m. on 16 June. She recognized two of them as Orahovac Albanians – Ukšini (Ukshin) and Afrim, the son of a local photographer. They demanded that her husband Svetislav hand over his weapons. He did and asked for a receipt he could present to other KLA members if they came looking for guns. Ukšini replied that he had to come with them for a receipt. The KLA men left with her husband. Mrs. Grković saw their neighbors from Svetosavska St. – M.T., Peko Pelević and Marko Vitošević - being taken away at the same time as her husband. The next day, Ukšini came again and told Mrs. Grković that her husband had said she was to give him his pistol and car keys. On 31 August, Mrs. Grković filed a complaint with the Prizren Public Prosecutor’s Office against Mahmut Ukšini, Afrim Balja and three unidentified KLA members, charging them with unlawful detention and saying there was reason to believe that they had also committed murder.

Marko Vitošević’s son and wife moved to the Serb quarter of Orahovac on 15 June while he remained in their apartment. The son last spoke with his father about noon on 16 June. Later that day, KFOR escorted two Serb women who lived in the Vitošević’s street to the Serb quarter. The women told him that four Albanians, among whom Mahmut Ukšini, started searching Serb apartments in the street at noon that day.

After his escape, M.T. first found refuge in a Serbian Orthodox seminary and fled Kosovo to Serbia on 29 October 1999. Mrs. Grković left Orahovac in early November and came to Serbia. The body of Peko Pelević was not found, and the whereabouts of Svetislav Grković and Marko Vitošević remain unknown.
Source: HLC, witness statement

1.1.3. Set free

Štrbac, Marica (F, 70), Croatian Serb, refugee – imprisoned on 15 June 1999 at the refugee camp in Orahovac after it was occupied by the KLA. Two women and a man, all Serb refugees from Croatia, were also imprisoned there until set free by KFOR on 20 June 1999.

Mrs. Štrbac was staying at the refugee camp near the Orvin plant with her husband, a friend stated. A few days before the camp was taken by the KLA on 15 June, her husband moved to the Serb quarter of the town. Mrs. Štrbac refused to accompany him. When the KLA came, they held her, another two women and a man imprisoned in the camp. They were set free by KFOR five days later and taken to the Serb quarter. With Red Cross assistance, Mrs. Štrbac and her husband fled Kosovo to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Dedić, Predrag (M), Serb, from Orahovac - detained at the KLA headquarters when he went to inquire about his son who had been abducted. He was set free later that day by a member of KFOR.²⁷
Source: HLC, witness statement

²⁷  Witness statement on the abduction of D.P.: Orahovac, 2. Abducted.
 

PEĆ

1. Missing

Korač, Mirka (F, 65), Serb, from Zahać (Zahaq), Istok Municipality – last seen on 12 June 1999 in Peć.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

Ilić, Luka (M); his wife Ilić, Desanka (54), Serbs, disappeared on 12 June 1999 in Peć.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM

Vuković, Milan (M, 17), Montenegrin, from Dubovik, Dečani Municipality – disappeared on 13 June 1999 on the road between Peć and Dubovik.

Family friends recounted that the Vuković family left Dubovik for Peć during the NATO intervention, believing that they would be safer there. After the intervention, Vuković went on foot to Dubovik to check up on the house and see if they could move back. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Vulević, Branislav (M, 62), Serb, from Glavičica (Kokaj), Peć Municipality – disappeared on 13 June 1999.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

Vukčević, Spaso (M, 72), Montenegrin, from Korenica (Korenicë) village, Peć (210, B. Vukmirovića St.) – disappeared after 14 June 1999 in Peć.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM
 

Ćirković, Vasiljka (F, 79), Serb, from Belo Polje (Bellopojë), Peć Municipality – last seen on 15 June 1999 in Glavičica, Peć Municipality.
Source: Persons missing in relation to the events in Kosovo from January 1998, ICRC

Zogović, Radenko (M, 46), Montenegrin, from Crni Vrh (Cerovërhë), Peć Municipality, employee of Leather and Shoe Factory, Yugoslav Army reservist – disappeared between 15 and 16 June 1999.

Zogović’s sister told the HLC that her brother’s family left Peć on 12 June. Zogović was demobilized on 13 June. The Yugoslav Army notified his family that he left headquarters for home that day.

Albanian neighbors told his sister that they saw him on several occasions on 15 or 16 June. The Zogović house was torched in late June.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Novović, Cvetko (M, 75); his wife Novović, Stanka (65), Serbs, from Nabrdje (Nabrxhanë), Peć Municipality – disappeared on 16 June 1999 in the Peć area.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

Jačić, Dušan (M, 24), Serb, from Peć, Yugoslav Army member – last seen on 17 June 1999.

A woman friend stated that Jačić did not leave Peć when the Yugoslav Army withdrew from Kosovo but no longer wore his uniform. He told her he and some colleagues were organizing a covert force to protect non-Albanians in the town.
On 16 June, Jačić visited this friend and, since it was late, decided to spend the night at her apartment.

The next morning, he went on foot to his own apartment. Her parents accompanied him to the town center where they parted. A few hours later, his parents called to say he had not arrived at his home.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Novović, Goran (M, 34), Serb – last seen on 17 June 1999 in Mala Jablanica (Jabllanicë e Vogël ), Peć Municipality.
Source: Persons missing in relation to the events in Kosovo from January 1998, ICRC

Kuč, Petar (M, 45), Montenegrin, from Brestovik, Peć Municipality – last seen on 18 June 1999 on the road from Peć to Rožaje, Montenegro.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Grujić, Bogomir (M, 63); his relative Grujić, Radosav (M, 42), Serbs, from Donji Petrić (Petriq e Ulët), Klina Municipality -–last seen on 18 June driving past the building of the old hospital in Peć in Grujić’s car (Peć license plates).
Source: "OZNA" Detective Agency website

Mikulić, Rade (M, 68), Montenegrin, from Peć (12, Djurdjina Jovićević St., Brežanik (Brezhanik) neighborhood)), electrician, employee of Elektro-Kosovo – disappeared between 18 and 19 June 1999.

Mikulić’s family fled Peć to Montenegro on 15 June. Only he remained in their house. His daughter-in-law heard from Albanian neighbors that they saw him go shopping in the first few days after the family’s departure.

When the family called him, unknown persons speaking Albanian answered the phone, refused to say when and how they had moved into the house or whether they knew anything about Mikulić.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Folić, Veljko (M, 50), Montenegrin, from Djakovica, driver with the Lasta bus company; Jevrić, Miloš (M, 59), Montenegrin, from Peć (26, 1. Maja St.), owner of auto repair shop in the same street – disappeared on 19 June 1999 in Peć.
In the evening of 18 June, Folić came to the Peć Patriarchate from where he planned to proceed to Djakovica to fetch his wife. At the Patriarchate, he met his brother-in-law and his close friend, Miloš Jevrić, with whom he discussed how to best reach Djakovica and get his wife out of the town. All the Serbs who had found refuge at the Patriarchate advised him not to go.

Between 10 and 11 a.m. on 19 June, Folić nonetheless left for Djakovica, traveling together with Jevrić in Jevrić’s Opel Cadet with Belgrade license plates.

A friend of Jevrić related to the HLC that he met Jevrić in a cafe by the Bistrica River not far from Peć around noon that day. This witness did not mention Folić by name but said Jevrić was with several men he did not know. Two men and a woman came up to their table. The men introduced themselves as foreign reporters and the woman as their interpreter, and said they wished to buy a car. Jevrić told them he was an auto mechanic and could find them the kind of vehicle they needed. The witness left the cafe when they began to discuss a price.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Djokić, Ivan (M, 40), Serb, from Peć (Brdjansko (Bërzhenik) neighborhood)), employee of sugar refinery – last seen on 19 June 1999.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Tošković, Djordje (M, 75), Serb, from Peć (46, Ive Lole Ribara St., Karagač (Karagaq) neighborhood)), MD, gynecologist, retired – disappeared on 20 June 1999.

During the NATO intervention, Tosković moved to the downtown apartment of a Serb relative who had left Peć. His daughter told the HLC that he left the apartment to check up on his house on 20 June in the morning. He was last seen between his house and the Metohija Hotel.

The daughter heard from acquaintances that prior to Toškovićs’ disappearance, some unidentified Albanians had come to his home, inquired where he was and said they would “skin him alive.”
Source: HLC, witness statement

Jašović, Aleksandar (M, 63), Serb, from Peć (Hora Šehamanovića St.), economist, deputy manager of Beobanka branch in Peć – last seen on 20 June 1999.

Relatives related that Jašović’s family fled Peć to Serbia on 13 June while he decided to stay. His sister-in-law and nephews also stayed in their house, next door to the Jašović home. On 8 June, KLA members came for Jašović, took him to a house where he was questioned. Before they released him, they told Jašović he had to leave Peć immediately or he would kill him. Jašović told his sister-in-law he would not leave despite this threat.

Two days later, on 20 June, he went to check up on the house of relatives who had fled Peć earlier. His sister-in-law never saw him again.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Gojković, Rade (M, 63), Serb, from Peć (37, Landovačka (Landovicës) St.)), restaurant proprietor – disappeared between 19 and 21 June 1999.

Family friends recounted that Gojković had found refuge at the Peć Patriarchate and disappeared when he went to check up on his apartment between 19 and 21 June.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Samardžić, Luka (M), Serb, from Peć – disappeared between 19 and 21 June 1999 in Peć.

According to friends, Samardžić had found refuge at the Peć Patriarchate. He was last seen when he went to check up on his apartment near the old hospital in Peć.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Dončić, Luka (M); Dončić, Slobodan (M); Dončić Snežana (F); Dujačić, Miša (M); Milosavljević, Vladimir (M); Novičević, Milorad (M, 59), Serbs – disappeared on 21 June 1999 in Peć.
Source: List of Serbs Kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija (June-August), KOSOVO.COM

Bašić, Sadat (M), Muslim, from Nabrdje, Peć Municipality, PTT lineman – disappeared on 21 June 1999.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Dragović, Predrag (M, 49), Serb – last seen on 22 July 1999 in Peć.
Source: Persons missing in relation to the events in Kosovo from January 1998, ICRC

Golubović, Zoran (M, 37), Serb, car body mechanic – last seen on 25 June 1999 near the Roman Catholic church in Peć.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Lazović, Petar (M, 58), Serb, from Peć (29, Gimnazijska St.) – disappeared after 27 June 1999.

Jugoslav Lazović stated that his mother and sister left Peć on 14 June, and he and his brother on 27 June. His father decided to stay. The last time Jugoslav Lazović spoke with his father was on 27 June when he called him from the Peć Patriarchate before leaving for Serbia. Lazović told his sons not to worry, that he had spoken with their neighbor Ferdi, a KLA member, who had told him he was safe and that the rest of the family need not have fled Peć.

After his father’s disappearance, Jugoslav Lazović came to Peć to make inquiries with their Albanian neighbors. The neighbors, however, were not able to tell him what had happened to his father and said they believed Lazović had fled to the Patriarchate. Two months later, the Lazović house was burned down.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Petrovi}, @arko (M, 54), Seni}, Vasilije (M, 63) i Jerini} Milivoje (71), Serbs, from Pe}, last seen on 28 June 1999.
Source: Persons missing in relation to the events in Kosovo from January 1998, ICRC

Stević, Smiljana (F, 70), Serb, from Peć – last seen on 20 July 1999.
Source: Persons missing in relation to the events in Kosovo from January 1998, ICRC

Medenica, Branko (M, 57), Montenegrin Montenegrin from Drijena near Kolašin retired, mentally ill – last seen at the Peć Patriarchate in late August 1999.

Medenica’s sister recounted that Medenica was hard hit emotionally by the death of their older sister on 7 July. In late August, he went to Peć to see his aunt and cousins who, however, had fled to Montenegro in the meantime.

Amateur radio operators informed Medenica’s sister that he had been seen at the Peć Patriarchate in late August where he spoke with a reporter by the first name of Slavko, and Bishop Amfilohije Radović.

KFOR intended to transfer Medenica to Montenegro or a psychiatric institution because of his condition. His sister does not know whether he was hospitalized or went elsewhere of his own accord. No one at the Patriarchate saw Medenica after the end of August.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Dragović, Dušan (M); his wife Dragović, Milosavka, Serbs, from Peć – disappeared during the summer of 1999.
Source: Church Committee, Kosovo

2. Abducted

Pejčinović, Slobodan (M, 19), Serb, from Peć (3, Limska St.) – abducted by the KLA on 26 March 1999 on the road between Peć and Rožaje, Montenegro.

Mrs. Pejčinović stated that her son and three Albanian friends, A.B. (18), B.A. (25) and B.K. (17), left on foot at 1.30 p.m. on 26 March for Rožaje, Montenegro, by way of Crni Vrh village.

When her son failed to return, she reported his disappearance to KFOR. Pejčinović’s Albanian friends told the family that they reached Rugova village where KLA members stopped them and took them to their headquarters. The youths spent the first night locked up together in one room but Pejčinović was separated from them the next day. The Albanian youths were released later that day while Pejčinović was retained and has not been heard from since.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Petković, B. Dragan (M, 39), employee of Metohija Hotel; his brother Petković, Zoran (43), employee of Peć brewery, Serbs, from Peć – abducted on 13 June 1999.

A relative told the HLC that he last saw the Petković brothers just before 1 p.m. on 13 June. He was informed by an acquaintance that soon after that unidentified Albanian civilians forced the brothers into a light blue Yugo car and drove them away.

The Petković house was looted later that day. The relative came to Peć again on 27 July to inquire about the brothers but was not able to obtain any more information about their disappearance.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Petrušić, Luka (M, 57), Montenegrin, born in Ljubovo, Peć Municipality, Montenegrin national, domiciled in Podgorica; his relatives Vujačić, Slobodan (M, 54), elementary schoolteacher in Pećka Banja; Petrušić, Radmila (F, 54), teacher in Pećka Banja, Montenegrins – disappeared on 17 June 1999 in Pećka Banja.

Petrušić came to Kosovo to help his relatives flee Pećka Banja to Montenegro on 15 June. When he arrived, Vujačić and Radmila Petrušić asked him to stay one day longer so that they could pack some belongings.

They finished packing in the evening of 17 June and decided to wait until morning before they started out for Montenegro in a tractor with trailer attached and Luka Petrušić’s Lada Niva. At 9.15 p.m., Petrušić left the Vujačić house to spend the night at Radmila Petrušić’s house, some 500 meters away. Slobodan Vujačić walked there with him while his wife stayed on the porch. She soon heard the ignitions of the tractor and car turned on and the vehicles driving away. About 15 minutes later, she heard gunfire, first a single shot and then a burst. At daybreak, she saw that the car and tractor were gone and went to Radmila Petrušić’s house. She found it empty and the windows smashed.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Bogićević, Dušan (M, 68), Serb, from Dobri Do (Dobërdol), Peć Municipality, retired – abducted by the KLA in Peć on 17 June 1999; his friend P.D. (M), Serb, from Peć, managed to escape. Somewhat later, KLA members came to the apartment of the S. family, led out S.Z., her husband and two children, and their friends T.R. and R.R., all Serbs from Peć, beat up T.R. and then allowed them to go.

Bogićević’s sister recounted that her brother left their village on 12 June and stayed with relatives in Goraždevac (Gorazhdec), Peć Municipality. He visited with the S. family in Peć on 17 June. At 11 p.m. he left with a friend, P.D., to spend the night in the apartment of his son who was in Switzerland. They were attacked by unidentified Albanians outside the Leather and Shoe Factory. Bogićević was abducted while P.D. managed to escape.

In shock after the incident, P.D. was unable to give the Bogićević family any details about the abduction, and fled Kosovo immediately afterwards.

Around midnight, KLA members broke into the S. apartment, led the family and two friends who were there into the street and threatened to shoot them on the spot. Pleading with them, S.Z. said she was Croat and that her children were not Serb. After beating up T.R., the KLA men allowed them all to go. They found refuge at the Peć Patriarchate and never returned to Peć.

An Albanian friend confirmed to Bogićević’s sister that her brother had been abducted by the KLA outside the Leather and Shoe Factory, and that P.D. was able to get away.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Jočić, Dušan (M, 24), Montenegrin, from Peć, employee of the construction materials plant and student of the Peć Business School; Dašić, Dragan (M, 35), Montenegrin, from Peć, courier with the municipal Military Affairs Department; Bademović, Mujo (M, 34), Muslim, from Peć, plumber – abducted by the KLA on 18 June 1999 outside the KFOR headquarters in the former Yugoslav Army Cultural Center in Peć.

Responding to a KFOR notice, Jočić, Dašić and Bademović on 18 June went to the KFOR headquarters to submit job applications. They parked their car, a grey Mercedes 190 with Peć license plates which belonged to Jočić’s brother, outside the building and, waiting to be called inside to be interviewed, talked among themselves in Serbian. Two groups of five or six men in KLA uniforms came by and at gunpoint ordered Jočić and Dašić to get in the car, saying they were taking them for questioning at the KLA headquarters located in the Dukadjini (Dukagjini) printing works in Peć. When he protested against his friends being taken, Bademović too was forced into the car and they were all driven away.

The families reported the abduction to KFOR and were told that there was no reason for concern since Jočić, Dašić and Bademović would only be asked to give statements and would be released within a few hours. The three men never returned to their homes.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Lalić, Spasoje (M, 40), Montenegrin, from Peć, employee of Tobacco Factory – abducted on 18 June 1999 from his home in Peć.

Mrs Lalić stated that some Albanians knocked at their gate at 7.55 a.m. on 18 June. Her husband, still in his pyjamas, went out to see who it was. Mrs Lalić did not see the persons by the gate and only heard her husband speaking with them in Albanian. Realizing that something was wrong, she went outside but found no one there any more.

She drove immediately to the KFOR headquarters at the Metohija Hotel to report her husband’s disappearance and then returned home. She was near her street when she heard three gunshots and saw several men in black uniforms running away. Scared, she returned to the KFOR headquarters and was escorted back to her home by several KFOR members. Her husband was not there. The KFOR members told her it was not safe for her to remain in the house and advised her to move in with friends. She went to a building where other Serbs who had remained in Peć were staying.

She returned to her home on 20 June to retrieve some belongings. The house had been looted and ransacked. She found her the pyjamas her husband was wearing when he was abducted stuffed behind a radiator. There were no rents or bloodstains on them.

On 22 June, KLA members came to the building in which she was staying, took her and the other Serbs into the basement and told them they would be shot. At that moment, a KFOR patrol came into the building and the KLA men escaped through the back entrance. The Serbs were escorted by KFOR to the Patriarchate from where they fled to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Grujić, Branko (M, 65), retired; his relative Grujić, Milorad (M, 42), driver with the Kosovo-Trans company, Montenegrins, from Peć – abducted by the KLA on 18 June 1999 in Peć.

Mrs. Grujić related that Milorad Grujić was taken by the KLA on the stairway of his apartment building in the vicinity of the Kosovo-Trans company and Ramiz Sadiku school between 4 and 5 p.m. on 18 June, forced into a Mercedes car and driven away.

She, her husband and an Orthodox priest went to the KFOR checkpoint near the Beopetrol gasoline station to inquire about Milorad. KLA members at the checkpoint told her husband to get in his car, a dark blue Fiat 132 (license plates PE 36-00), and go with them to the KLA police to give a statement about his relative. Her husband did not return home and Mrs. Grujić fled Kosovo shortly afterwards.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Šoškić, Miodrag (M, 44), Montenegrin, from Peć (71 Vojska Jugoslavije St.), employee of Leather and Shoe Factory; Krstić, Maksim (M, 45), Serb, naturalized Russian – abducted by unidentified persons on 19 June 1999 in Peć.
Šoškić and Krstić, who had come to Peć to get his sister out of the town, were abducted together with R.D., a mutual friend who was released the same day. Their whereabouts remain unknown.²⁸
Source: HLC, witness statement

²⁸  Witness statement on the abduction of Šoškić and Krstić: Peć, 2.2.1. Released by the KLA.
 

Djuričić, Milivoje (M, 62), attorney; Petrović, Radonja (M, 64), retired; Savić, Jovica (M, 40), electrician, employee of Baterija company, Montenegrins, from Peć – abducted on 19 June 1999. The three men were last seen by K.A., a Serbian Orthodox priest, in the home of a Roma man in Peć where they were being held by the KLA.

Mrs Djuričić and her daughter left for Montenegro during the NATO intervention. Her husband and son stayed in Peć. In June, her husband was finalizing some contracts between KFOR and the staff of the Metohija Hotel.

Mrs Djuričić told the HLC that her husband and son left home about 8 a.m. on 19 June and went to Vitomirica (Vitomiricë) village where they had a weekend house. Her husband left their son there and went back to Peć. He telephoned his wife from the Metohija Hotel. They spoke briefly and he said he would call her again around 4 p.m.

Staff at the hotel later told the family that Djuričić received a telephone call and was told that his apartment in the Kaković (Kakoviq) neighborhood (90/2, Vidaka Markovića St.) had been broken into. Leaving the hotel between 1 and 2 p.m., he met Radonja Petrović, told him about the phone call and said he was going to his apartment to check out the information. Petrović decided to go with him and they left in a white Yugo car, together with their mutual friend Jovica Savić.

The next day, Mrs Djuričić was notified by amateur radio operators of her husband’s abduction and immediately left for Peć. She fetched her son from the weekend house on 24 June and, two days later, heard that an Albanian family, the Husajis, had moved into their apartment in Peć. Two Husaji brothers were longstanding clients of Djuričić and knew the family well. Mrs Djuričić tried to talk with them to see if they had any information about her husband but they refused to speak with her.

A priest from the Peć Patriarchate recounted to the HLC that he was detained by the KLA on the same day as Djuričić, Petrović and Savić and taken to the house of a wealthy Roma man near the gasoline station. He saw Djuričić and Petrović on the terrace of this house and noticed signs of physical abuse on both. The priest was released later that day on the order of, Etem Čeku (Ethem Çeku), the local KLA commander and mayor of Peć.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Karać, Milutin (M, 51), Serb, from Peć (32 Vojske Jugoslavije St.), employee of Hydro-Meteorological Bureau – abducted on 21 June 1999 in Peć.

Karać’s daughter recounted that the family left Peć following the withdrawal of the Serbian forces from Kosovo. Only her father remained in their apartment, and her paternal grandmother in her house (10, 29. Novembra St.).

As he did daily, Karać went to see his mother on 21 June and disappeared. A Gorani neighbor told his mother later that day that Karać was stopped just outside her house by uniformed KLA men who asked him to produce some identification. He had only his driver’s license and gave it to them, after which they took him away. When she went to Karać’s apartment, his mother found it broken into and looted. She then fled Peć to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Stanković, Miodrag (M, 45), typographer-signpainter; his neighbor Martinović, Voja (M, 74), retired, Serbs, from Peć – abducted by the KLA on 23 June 1999 in Peć.

Mrs Stanković told the HLC she heard noises from her yard about 3 p.m. on 23 June. She, her husband and a neighbor, Roksanda Savić, went outside to see what was going on and found two uniformed KLA men trying to break into their garage. Stanković went up to them and asked them to stop. They replied in Albanian that they urgently needed a car battery and, at gunpoint, ordered him to come with them. They emerged into the main street where another three KLA men were waiting, and entered the yard of a nearby house in which a red car was parked. Mrs Savić’s husband Voja, who had seen this, followed the KLA men to help his neighbor.

The two women were unable to see what happened in the yard but a neighbor, who watched through her window, told them that the KLA men searched Stanković and took his pistol. After beating him, they pushed him into the red car and drove away. Savić remained in the yard with two of the KLA men. Some 10 minutes later, the red car came back for Savić and the two KLA members.

After reporting her husband’s abduction to KFOR, Mrs Savić sought refuge at the Patriarchate from where she fled to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Čupić, Branko (M, 47), Serb, from Peć (M. Pavličića St.), secretary of driving license commission – abducted by the KLA from his neighbor’s apartment on 23 June 1999. Two hours later, the abductors came back to demand ransom from his wife. She gave them her gold jewelry but her husband was not returned.

Čupić’s sister told the HLC her brother, his wife Olivera, mother Milijana and an Albanian neighbor were in the apartment of a Serb in the same building as theirs, which Čupić had been asked to look after. At 9.30 p.m. on 23 June, two armed and uniformed KLA men came to this apartment, searched it, took all the valuables they found, including 1,300 dinars and Čupić’s pistol, and, before leaving, gave the family until 10 a.m. the next day to leave Peć. At 11 p.m., seven KLA members in black uniforms came, led Čupić and the Albanian neighbor out of the apartment, beat up the neighbor in the hallway, and took Čupić away, saying he would only be questioned.

One hour later, two of the black-uniformed KLA men came back. They handed Mrs Čupić a note in her husband’s handwriting reading: “Olivera, give them all the gold you have.” Underneath that was written in another hand, “And the marks.” Mrs Čupić took off her gold jewelry and gave it to the men who then demanded deutsche marks. She had no currency on her apart from 91 dinars, which they refused to take. The KLA men left.

Mrs Čupić reported her husband’s abduction to KFOR the next day and went to see an Albanian friend of his, Mahmut, who told her Čupić was being held in the movie theater in Peć. Mahmut promised to do everything in his power to obtain her husband’s release.

Mrs Čupić spent the next two days at the Patriarchate and then came back to Peć to see whether Mahmut had any more information about her husband. Mahmut told her Čupić had been released and was in the apartment. When she arrived there, however, she found only the Albanian neighbor who was with them the night of her husband’s abduction and to whom she had given the keys. The neighbor said her husband had not come home.

Mrs Čupić went back to the Patriarchate and never returned to Peć.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Djikanović, Jovo (M), Montenegrin, from Peć – abducted from his home by the KLA on 25 June 1999.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Radević, Bogdan (M, 64), Montenegrin, from Peć (Božnik (Bozhnik) neighborhood)), former mayor of Peć – abducted on 26 June 1999.

Family members recounted that a group of KLA men stormed into the Radević house about 9 a.m. on 26 June. They tied up Radević, demanded weapons, and beat him and his wife Milena. When Radević told them he possessed no firearms, they ordered him to go with them to their headquarters. Two KLA remained with Mrs Radević. They searched the house and then tried to rape her. She jumped out the window and ran into the neighboring yard from where she called KFOR. When the KFOR members arrived, they found the house empty.

Mrs Radević was escorted to the Patriarchate by KFOR the same day and fled to Montenegro.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Bećir, Ramu (Beqiri Ramë) (M, 25), Rom, from Lešane (Leshanë), Peć Municipality – abducted by unidentified persons in late June 1999 on a local road near Peć while riding with his family on a horse-drawn wagon.
Source. Roma in the Kosovo Conflict, ERRC, November 1999

Vulević, Vlado (M, 65), Serb, from Zahać, Peć Municipality; unidentified Albanian, from Zahać – abducted on 2 July 1999.

The witness stated that a group of KLA members came to Zahać on 2 July and took Vulević to a KLA prison. Vulević’s Albanian friend, who protested with the KLA men, was also taken but was released the next day.

After the incident, this Albanian and his father took Mrs Vulević to the Patriarchate for safety.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Radević, Miloš (M, 50), Montenegrin, from Vitomirica, Peć Municipality, economist, employee of Leather and Shoe Factory – abducted from his apartment in July 1999.

Radević’s daughter recounted that a group KLA members came to their apartment and drove her father away in his Lada Samara car (license plates PE 502-75).
Source: HLC, witness statement

2.1. Killed

Haljilji, Muslji (Halili Musli) (M), Rom, from Brestovik, Peć Municipality – abducted and killed by the KLA on 16 June 1999.

Muslji’s father-in-law stated that five KLA members came to Muslji’s house on 16 June and demanded that he hand over his rifle. When he said he did not have any firearms, they took him away.

Mrs Mulji found her husband’s body the next day with a chain around his neck with which he had been tied to a car bumper. There were bloodstains on the road.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Janković, Nebojša (M, 37), Montenegrin, from Peć (48 Žrtava Fašizma St.) – abducted on 18 June 1999; his body was found by KFOR in the abandoned building of the Peć jail on 23 June 1999.

Following the withdrawal of the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police from Kosovo, Mrs Janković and her sons Nebojša and Žarko moved in with friends who lived near the former police station. Around 9 a.m. on 18 June, Nebojša Janković went out to inquire when a rally at which the Serbian Patriarch was to speak would be held. He took a side street leading to the former police station and jail.

When her son did not return soon, Mrs Janković thought the rally had started and that he was attending. Around noon she began to inquire with neighbors and friends about the rally and heard that it had been cancelled. She called her other son and they began to look for Nebojša. An Albanian neighbor told them she had seen him talking with an Italian member of KFOR that morning. Another neighbor said she had seen Janković with a group of KLA men outside the abandoned jail. Mrs Janković immediately reported her son’s disappearance to KFOR.

On 23 June, KFOR found the body of Nebojša Janković in the jail. He had a gunshot wound in the head and the investigation showed that he had been killed on 18 June, the day he went missing. Mrs Janković and Žarko left Peć on 24 June; the burial of Nebojša Janković on 26 June was arranged by a neighbor.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Rastoder, Sejdo (M, 63), Muslim, from Vitomirica, Peć Municipality, taxi driver – abducted on 4 July 1999 in Peć and killed.

Rastoder was abducted by unidentified persons on 4 July in Peć and killed. His body was found in early August in Novo Selo, Peć Municipality.
Source: Izveštaj o položaju Muslimana-Bošnjaka na Kosovu nakon dolaska KFOR-a [Report on the Position of Bosniac-Muslims in Kosovo Following KFOR’s Deployment], Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Sandžaku [Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Sandžak], October 1999

Begović, Hamdija (M, 58); his wife Begović, Ifeta (54), Muslims, from Peć – abducted from their home by the KLA on the night of 8/9 July 1999; their bodies were found by KFOR in central Peć on 9 July 1999.

The Begovićs’ daughter recounted to the HLC that Albanian neighbors of her parents told her that KLA members came to their apartment on the night of 8/9 July. The neighbors attempted to prevent the KLA men from taking the couple away but, afraid that they would also be taken, soon desisted. They immediately reported the abduction to KFOR.

The next day, KFOR found the bodies of the Begovićs under the bridge near the old town hall in central Peć. The bodies were lying partly in the water, the hands were tied in front and they had been shot in the back. The rifle with which they had been killed was lying beside them.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Kočan, Haćim (M, 55), Muslim, from Zlopek (Qellopek), Peć Municipality – abducted by unidentified persons in Peć in mid-July 1999.

Parts of Kočan’s body, some articles of his clothing and personal papers were found in late July 1999 in a damaged and abandoned house in Zlopek village.
Source: Izveštaj o položaju Muslimana-Bošnjaka na Kosovu nakon dolaska KFOR-a [Report on the Position of Bosniac-Muslims in Kosovo Following KFOR’s Deployment], Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Sandžaku [Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Sandžak], October 1999

Dragolovčanin, Ševćet (M, 42), Serbian Muslim, from Sjenica, clergyman – disappeared on 8 August 1999 on the road to Peć.

Dragolovčanin left Rožaje, Montenegro, about 1 p.m. on 8 August in a Mercedes 250 D automobile (license plates NP 505-95). His body was found on 21 august 1999 in Mala Jablanica, Peć Municipality.
Source: Izveštaj o položaju Muslimana-Bošnjaka na Kosovu nakon dolaska KFOR-a [Report on the Position of Bosniac-Muslims in Kosovo Following KFOR’s Deployment], Helsinški odbor za ljudska prava u Sandžaku [Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Sandžak], October 1999

Hakanjin, Ismet (M, 33); Srdanović, Dževad (M, 45), Montenegrin Muslims, from Plav – abducted by the KLA on 20 November 1999 at the bus depot in Peć.
From the bus depot, Hakanjin and Srdanović were taken to the building of the RAJ Bank in Peć, which served as the headquarters of the KLA police.
Hakanjin’s body with several gunshot wounds was found on 25 November 1999 on the road to Dečani; Srdanović’s body, also with gunshot wounds, was found in early December 1999.

Šefko Alomerović, Chairman of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Sandžak, was quoted by Belgrade newspapers as saying that Azem Purušić, a relative of both the mayor of Peć, Etem Čeku, and Hakanjin, spoke with Čeku on the day Hakanjin and Srdanović were abducted. Čeku told him that the two men were being questioned by KLA police and would be released shortly.

Alomerović also said he had information that Hakanjin and Srdanović were killed by two KLA policemen, Zeka Besnik and Dževat Fetahu (Xhevat Fetahy), some 20 minutes after Purušić’s conversation with Čeku.
Source: Sahranjen Ismet Hakanjin [Ismet Hakanjin Buried], DANAS, 1 December 1999; Dva Muslimana ubijena, jedan kidnapovan [Two Muslims Killed, One Kidnapped], GLAS JAVNOSTI, 6 December 1999; Postoje logori za nealbance [Camps for Non-Albanians Exist], GLAS JAVNOSTI, 11 April 2000.

Radunović, Slavoljub (M), Montenegrin, from Peć – abducted by unidentified persons on 17 December 1999 on the road from the Patriarchate to central Peć.

Radunović had found refuge at the Patriarchate. He left it on 17 December to go to central Peć to buy some things he needed. His body was found by the UNMIK police near the Patriarchate on 1 January 2000.
Source: Pronadjeno telo nestalog Srbina [Body of Missing Serb Found], DANAS (BETA), 4 January 2000

Brakočević, Radojko (M, 40) Montenegrin Montenegrin, from Berane; Mustajbašić, Jasmin (M, 36), Montenegrin Muslim, from Berane – disappeared on 3 February 2000 on the road from Berane to Kosovo. Mustajbašić’s body was found on 18 February and Brakočević’s on 13 March 2000.

Brakočević and Mustajbašić left Berane at 8 a.m. on 4 January in truck loaded with lumber. They drove to Savine Vode, Peć Municipality, where they were to separate. Mustajbašić was to continue alone with the truck to a destination in Kosovo, and Brakočević was to return to Montenegro.

Mustajbašić’s body, bearing sings of violence, was found on 18 February in Junik village near Peć. Brakočević’s remains were found on 13 March, two kilometers from Savine Vode. He had been shot dead and there were no other traces of violence.
Source: Oteta dvojica žitelja Berana [Two Berane Residents Abducted], BLIC, 15 February 2000; Tijelo je 40 dana prekrivao snijeg [Body Under Snow for 40 Days], VIJESTI, 15 March 2000

1.2. Free

1.2.1. Released by the KLA

K.M. (M), Serb, from Peć, Orthodox clergyman – detained by the KLA on 19 June 1999; released later that day on the order of the local KLA commander.
Three KLA men in camouflage uniforms stopped K.M.’s car near the Beopetrol gasoline station in Peć, searched it and, claiming to have found suspicious objects: a face mask (actually part of a slipcover), knife and Motorola, took him to the yard of a nearby house that belonged to a wealthy Roma.

There were some 20 KLA men in the yard. On the terrace of the house, K.M. saw Radonja Petrović and Milivoje Djuričić, an attorney. Petrović’s jacket was torn and K.M. noticed signs of violence on both men.

K.M. was then taken to the basement of an uninhabited house with a store on the ground floor. He heard one of the KLA men say, “Finish the job.” In the basement, he saw a rifle fitted with a silencer. One wall was pockmarked with bullet holes and there were bloodstains on it and the floor. One of the three KLA men who brought him down, no older than 20, put his rifle to K.M.’s head and said, “Now you’ll pay for all the people you killed.” At that point, a uniformed KLA member K.M. had seen at the checkpoint the day before came into the basement, told the young man to put away his rifle and released the clergyman, saying their commander Etem Čeku had given orders that “no one may kill a priest.” He untied K.M.’s hands, led him out of the basement, returned his belongings and car keys.
Source: HLC, witness statement

R.D. (M, 40), Montenegrin, from Peć (Vojska Jugoslavije St.), electrical engineer; Šoškić, Miodrag (M, 44), Montenegrin, from Peć (Vojska Jugoslavije St.), employee of Leather and Shoe Factory); Krstić, Maksim (M, 45), Serb, naturalized Russian – abducted by unidentified persons on 19 June 1999 in Peć. R.D. was released later that day. The whereabouts of the other two men remain unknown.

The brother of Miodrag Šoškić, who fled Peć to Montenegro on 13 June, told the HLC that his brother lived alone and their mother in the house next door to him. At about 9 a.m., Miodrag Šoškić, Maksim Krstić, a naturalized Russian who had come to Peć to get his sister out of the town, and his relative R.D. went downtown at about 9 a.m. on 19 June.

Around 11 a.m., they left the Metohija Hotel in a white Yugo 55 car with Peć license plates, heading for Šoškić’s house. They were stopped by a KLA patrol after crossing the steel bridge. The KLA men asked to see their ID cards and, upon inspecting them, allowed them to proceed. Soon afterwards, another KLA patrol signaled to them to stop. Šoškić attempted to drive past the patrol but R.D. grabbed the steering wheel and swerved the car to a halt. Five or six armed and uniformed KLA men dragged them out of the car. R.D. was pushed into an automobile, Šoškić and Krstić into another and were driven away.

R.D. described what happened next:
“They took us to the warehouse of an Albanian from Peć, Mućaj (Muqaj), right next to the Leather and Shoe Factory. There were two guards in green uniforms, one of whom questioned us. After asking a few questions, they put us in the cold storage locker and began to beat us. We were held in the locker until the evening when they took us out and pushed us into a white Audi without license plates. They tried to manhandle me into the trunk first but I’m quite big and they couldn’t get me in so they dumped me in the back seat. Then I heard another car driving up and Miodrag and Maksim being shoved into it. That was the last time I saw them.

“They drove me to Češkovo (Qeskove), a village about 30 kilometers from Peć, and led me into a woods, to a man they all called ‘Commander.’ There were another two KLA members with him, one a younger man from nearby Nepolje (Nepolë) village whom I know by sight though I don’t know his name. The commander questioned me for a long time, asking if I had weapons, if I had been mobilized, if I had killed anybody... We argued for a long time and in the end he said, ‘All right, let’s say we forgive you.’ They took me back to the car and drove to Peć. Two KLA men were in the car with me, one in black and one in green uniform. I know the one in the green uniform by sight too. His name is Uljar (Ular) and he lives in the Dečani area. They all spoke Serbian. They let me out in the town and said I was free.”

Miodrag Šoškić’s brother recounted that three KLA members brought his brother to his home in a car at about 1 a.m. on 20 June. Two entered the house with him while the third stood at the entrance of their mother’s house to prevent her from going to her son. They did not turn on the lights so that she was unable to see them. She only heard them demanding weapons from her son. They left an hour later, taking Miodrag Šoškić with them.

KFOR transferred the remaining Serbs in Peć, including R.D. and Mrs Šoškić, to the Patriarchate the next morning, 20 June.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Jovanović, Rajko (M) ; his wife Jovanović, Mira, Serbs, from Peć – abducted by the KLA between 19 and 21 June 1999 in Peć, released six days later and fled to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Tafa, Naser (M, 32), Rom, from Čungare (Qungarë), Peć Municipality – abducted by the KLA in June 1999 and released several hours later.

Tafa recounted that five Albanians stormed into his home, beat him and demanded that he tell them where the village Serbs were hiding and the location of concealed weapons.

“They tied me up and took me to the KLA headquarters where they beat me for hours, until I blacked out. When I came to, they told me to go home and to leave the village and Kosovo. They said they would kill me and all my family if they came back and found me in the village.”

Tafa fled Kosovo after the incident. He heard that his Roma neighbor Osman Krasnići (Osman Krasniqi) was also imprisoned, beaten and, before being released, threatened with death unless he left Kosovo.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Dedaj, Redžep (Dedaj, Rexhep) (M); his brother Dedaj, Ramuš (Dedaj, Ramush), Roma, from Peć – imprisoned for several hours at the KLA headquarters in late June 1999.

Redžep Dedaj stated that KLA members in late June forced him and his brother to load into trucks belongings stolen from abandoned Serb houses. When they finished the loading, they walked home but were stopped by other KLA members who took them to their headquarters. They were questioned about whether they had killed or robbed Albanians. When they denied this, they were beaten and the

KLA men claimed they had proof that Redžep Dedaj and his brother had killed and robbed Albanians. They were released several hours later.
Both brothers and their families fled Kosovo to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

V.Š. (M), Rom, from Lešane, Peć Municipality – abducted by the KLA on 3 July 1999, released 24 hours later.

The wife of V.Š. recounted that KLA members forced their way into their home on 3 July and took her husband to their headquarters. He told her he was so severely beaten there that he lost consciousness and remembers only being brought back to his home. The same day another two KLA members, Brahim Uka and Hajrudin Mustafa, came and forcible ejected V.Š. and his wife from their house, after which they fled to Montenegro.
Source: HLC, witness statement

1.2.2. Escaped

D.Č. (M, 63), Serb, from Peć, retired – abducted by the KLA on 19 June 1999; he escaped the same day.

D.Č. stated that KLA members came to his home on 16 June and demanded that he hand over his firearms. He gave them his rifle and pistol and they left. The next day, other KLA members came and also demanded weapons. D.Č. told them he had turned over his firearms to the KLA, and that he would go with them to the headquarters to seek the men to whom he had given the guns so that they could check out his story. The KLA men said they believed him and went away.

At about 5 p.m. on 19 June, three KLA men D.Č. recognized as neighbors living in the same street – Kujtim Neka and two young men who had worked in Switzerland the preceding two years – came to his home.

He described what happened then:
“They were armed and had walkie-talkies over which they kept reporting where they were. Kujtim showed me an ID with a golden UÇK emblem. They started speaking Albanian and when I said I didn’t understand, they switched to Serbian and cursed me, asking why I didn’t know Albanian and did I know where I lived. They started searching for weapons. I did have some more guns but had buried them all in the garden. Then they began to beat me and knocked out one of my teeth with a rifle butt. Kujtim ordered me to open my mouth and pushed the barrel of his pistol into it. He was going to fire but changed his mind, said it would be too easy a death. He took a knife from his belt and said they were taking me away where they could kill me slowly, adding that they had just slit the throat of a man down the street. They said to hand them the keys of my car, a red Zastava 128 with Peć license plates. I gave them the keys but warned them there was no gas in the tank. One got in the car and the ignition caught. They yelled and cursed me and said I had lied about the tank being empty since the car had started fine.

“We went into the yard and they ordered me to open the gate. I went but the beating had made me faint and I stumbled and fell. They opened the gate themselves, banging my leg with it. They picked me up and started pushing me in the car. One noticed my watch and took it off my wrist. When I realized they were getting me into the car to take me away, I started defending myself. I hit one of them. I wasn’t going to let them take me, and wanted to make them kill me then and there so they wouldn’t have a chance to torture me. They just went on beating me even harder. We didn’t get far before the car stopped. ‘No gas,’ one said. I was pleased that they now knew I hadn’t been lying. They discussed what to do.

“Then they noticed Ilija Fatić’s green Volkswagen parked in his yard. One stayed to guard me and the other two went to siphon off some gas from the Volkswagen’s tank. They poured in about three liters and we drove on. They saw a banged-up car in a yard and said it might have some gasoline left in it. Again, two of them went to siphon out the gas and the third stayed to guard me. As they tried to lift the banged-up car so they could get at the gas, it fell on them. They called the third one and he ran to help them. They weren’t watching me and I took a chance, crawled to the other side, got out and ran through the yards of the burnt Albanian houses. I came to a overgrown hedge, crawled inside and stayed there. I didn’t get out until it was very late, about 3 a.m., before dawn. I don’t know what I was thinking and why I did it, but I went back to my own yard. I gave the pigs their feed and water and then I left. I went to Bijelo Polje, a Serb village only two kilometers from Peć. I got there in the morning of 20 June.”

D.Č. was in Bijelo Polje for a few days until KFOR escorted him and the villagers out of Kosovo to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

Š.M. (M, 67), Serb, from Peć (27 1. Maja St.), carpenter – abducted on 18 June 1999; escaped with the help of a KLA member.

The family of Š.M. left Peć on 14 June. He decided to stay. Shortly after noon on 18 June, two KLA members broke down the front door and entered the house. They demanded to know the whereabouts Š.M.’s son, who had been mobilized during the NATO intervention, and ordered Š.M. to give them his weapons. One of the KLA men, formerly apprenticed to Š.M., put his pistol under Š.M.’s chin and verbally abused him. When the other left the room to search the house, the former apprentice put away his gun and told Š.M. to run. Š.M. fled to the abandoned house of a Serb neighbor and concealed himself in the shed where he stayed for two days. He then managed to reach the house of another neighbor and telephone a friend who, with several others Serbs, was in a house near the Patriarchate. They were all able to get to the Patriarchate the next day, from where they fled to Serbia.
Source: HLC, witness statement

3. Detained

S.Z. (F); her husband; their two children; and friends T.R. and R.R., Serbs, from Peć - detained by the KLA on 17 June 1999.

KLA members forced their way into the home of the S. family, led them and their friends outside, threatened to shoot them all, beat up T.R. and shortly released them.²⁹
Source: HLC, witness statement

²⁹  Witness statement on the abduction of the S. family, T.R. and R.R.: Peć, 2. Abducted.
 

PODUJEVO (PODUJEVË)

1. Missing

Milačić, Miroslav (M), Serb, from Belovac (Belovëc), Podujevo Municipality – disappeared after 14 June 1999 in the Podujevo area.
Source: Državljani Albanije stižu u Prištinu [Albanian Nationals Arriving in Priština], BLIC, 24 June 1999; Centar za mir i toleranciju u Prištini [Peace and Tolerance Center in Priština], BLIC, 5 July 1999

Hiti, Marijan (M, ethnicity unknown) – disappeared in Rudare, Podujevo Municipality, after 14 June 1999.
Source: Centar za mir i toleranciju u Prištini [Peace and Tolerance Center in Priština], BLIC, 6 July 1999

Milačić, Ljubiša (M), Serb – last seen on the Podujevo-Priština road after 14 June 1999.
Source: Centar za mir i toleranciju u Prištini [Peace and Tolerance Center in Priština], BLIC, 6 July 1999

Vojvodić, Nebojša (M, 41), Serb, from Priština (1 Ace Marovića St.) – disappeared on 25 August 1999.

Vojvodić left for Serbia in his blue Zastava 101 (Priština license plates) on 25 August. He was last seen at Lužane (Lluzhane), Podujevo Municipality.
Source: Priština Peace and Tolerance Center website

2. Abducted

Milovanović, Smiljko (M, 42), Serbian Serb, from Blace, Kruševac Municipality, Yugoslav Army reservist – abducted by the KLA on 21 May 1999 in Dobri Do, Podujevo Municipality.

Mrs Milovanović related to the HLC that her husband and another two reservists went by car to Dobri Do to shop. They were stopped by the KLA at the edge of the village. Milovanović was taken away while the other two reservists managed to escape. They informed their commanding officer of the abduction. A group of soldiers dispatched to the location found no traces of violence.
Source: HLC, witness statement

1.1. Killed

Sarić, Mirko (M, 53), from Podujevo, employee of Srbijašume company – disappeared on 19 July on the road between Tačevci (Taqevcë) and Metoija (Metohi) villages, Podujevo Municipality. His body was found a few days later in Krpimej (Kerpimeh), Podujevo Municipality.
Source: Sahranjen Mirko Sarić [Mirko Sarić Buried], POLITIKA, 28 July 1999

Mladenović, Zoran (M, 30), Serb, from Lipljan – disappeared on 25 November 1999 on the way from Lipljan to Serbia. His body was found in May 2000 by UNMIK police.

Mladenović and his friend Č.D. (M, 27) started out for Bor in Serbia at 8.30 p.m. on 25 November in his dark blue Renault 18 car.

Č.D. related to the HLC what happened:
“A white van swerved and blocked the road about 1.5 kilometers after the turnoff for Podujevo, at the second bridge. As Zoran tried to drive around it, the van crashed into us. I received a hard knock to the head and my leg was broken. Zoran got out and ran off. Two men in civilian clothes were in the van. The younger one didn’t get out. The other one, a shortish man of about 45, came over and dragged me out of the car. He put me in a Zastava 128 and drove me to the clinic in Podujevo. He asked me why the driver had run away and I replied that I didn’t know. We said nothing more because I kept blacking out. A doctor examined me at the clinic in Podujevo and said my leg had to be X-rayed but that they didn’t have an X-ray machine. The Albanian came in a big white jeep with another man and they drove me to the Priština hospital. Doctors there X-rayed my leg, put it in a cast, and called the UNMIK police who took me to Kosovo Polje.”

Hearing that her son had not arrived in Bor, Mrs Mladenović reported his disappearance to KFOR. The next day, KFOR members accompanied her along the route taken by her son. She found his dented and burned car on the road between Priština and Podujevo.

On 30 May 2000, the UNMIK police notified Mladenovićs’ parents that his body had been found in the Vranjevac district and was in the Priština hospital morgue, registered as No. 1748. The Mladenovićs came to the hospital to identify the body but staff were unable to find it. At the UNMIK police, they were told that there had been a mistake and that they would be able to claim their son’s body in two or three days. On 8 June, the UNMIK police notified them that their son’s remains had been found and buried in the Muslim cemetery in Priština.
Source: HLC, witness statement
 

DEČANI (DEÇAN)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA

DJAKOVICA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.2. Escaped

GLOGOVAC

1. Missing

GNJILANE

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.3. Set free

ISTOK

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.2. Released

KAČANIK (KAÇANIK)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1 Killed

KOSOVSKA KAMENICA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA

KLINA (KLINE)

1. Missing
2. Abducted

KOSOVO POLJE (FUSHE E KOSOVËS)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (MITROVICE)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.1.1. Released by the KLA

LIPLJAN

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
2.1.1. Escaped

NOVO BRDO

1. Missing
3. Abducted
2.1 Free
2.1.1. Released by the KLA
2.1.1. Escaped
2.2. Detained

OBILIĆ (OBILIQ)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed

ORAHOVAC (RRAHOVEC)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.2. Escaped
1.1.3. Set free

PEĆ

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA
1.2.2. Escaped
3. Detained

PODUJEVO (PODUJEVË)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed

PRIŠTINA (PRISHTINË)

1. Missing
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.2. Escaped
2.2.3 Set free
3. Detained

PRIZREN

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA
2.2.2. Escaped
2.2.3. Set free

SRBICA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Free
1.1.1. Escaped

ŠTIMLJE

1. Missing
2. Abducted

ŠTRPCE

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Killed
1.2. Free
1.2.1. Escaped

SUVA REKA

1. Missing
2. Abducted
2.1. Killed
1.3. Free
1.2.1. Released by the KLA

UROŠEVAC

1. Missing
3. Abducted
1.1. Free
1.1.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.2. Escaped

VITINA

1. Missing
2.Abducted
2.1. Killed
2.2. Free
2.2.1. Released by the KLA

VUČITRN (VUSHTRRI)

1. Missing
2. Abducted
1.1. Free
1.1.1. Released by the KLA
1.1.1. Escaped

ZVEČAN

1. Missing
2. Abducted

Mailsenden