The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Aljbin Kurti, announced that the list of cultural heritage objects has been expanded and that it includes the Miners' Monument in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, as well as the "Panda" cafe in Peja, where Serbian youths were killed in 1998, Kossev reported today.
In a post on Facebook, Kurti stated that the memorial to the miners in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, erected in 1973, is under the protection of Kosovo.
"Its author is a Serbian dissident, one of the most courageous opponents of Milošević, architect Bogdan Bogdanović," Kurti added.
When it comes to the "Panda" cafe and the crime that happened there, Kurti said that the Serbian services were responsible for the murders of the young men, but also that they wanted to accuse the KLA of this crime. "On December 14, 1998, the Serbian services executed six young Serbs in the Pec cafe 'Panda' in order to falsely accuse the KLA as the culprit of the Milosevic regime's attempt to justify the genocide that was taking place in Kosovo," Kurti wrote.
According to him, apart from the historical reminder, the legal protection of that bar also comes as an alarm and a call to vigilance towards the unchanged political mentality of Serbia in relation to Albanians and Kosovo. A number of other buildings were added to the list of cultural heritage sites, including the "Gradica Military Hospital".
For that hospital, Kurti stated that doctor Lec Gradica "did not stop practicing his profession until the moment he became a martyr for the freedom of Kosovo." "His family's room in Gradica in Glogovac was turned into a military hospital in the area where he treated wounded KLA soldiers."
"From now on, this house will be protected by state laws, in order to become a point of reference and a tribute to Doctor Leci and other martyrs of Kosovo," said Kurti.
Kossev recalled that on December 14, 1998, Ivan Obradović (15), Zoran Stanojević (18), Vukota Gvozdenović (16), Svetislav Ristić (18), Ivan Radević ( 24) and Dragan Trifović (18). Vladimir Lončarević (18) and Mirsad Šabović (34) were seriously wounded, while Nikola Rajović (18) escaped with minor injuries from automatic weapons. Because of this crime, the State Security at the time arrested and suspected a group of local Albanians, and the then Vice President of the Federal Government of the FRY in charge of Kosovo, Nikola Šainović, announced that the "Panda" case had been solved.
The arrested Kosovo Albanians, however, were later released from custody due to lack of evidence. In the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime in Belgrade, an investigation into the massacre in the "Panda" cafe was launched in November 2015, but the indictment has not yet been filed.
MJ/FoNet
Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com
