Two Serb boys were monstrously killed in Kosovo village. 16 years later, nobody has answered for it

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the crime in Gorazdevac (a village in western Kosovo) when innocent Serb children, swimming in the Bistrica River, were murdered and severely wounded - with no one ever being held responsible for attacking them.I

Ivan Jovovic (19) and Pantelija Dakic (12) were killed, while Djorde Ugrenovic (20), Bogdan Bukumiric (14), Marko Bogicevic (12) and Dragana Srbljak (13) were seriously injured.

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The attackers on the Serb children - who were in 2003 spending the day on a river bank just 500 meters from the center of the village - have never been found, despite promises to the contrary.

This is one of the four biggest crimes committed against Serbs since the arrival of international missions in Kosovo. Even the prize of one million euros offered at the time by UNMIK (UN mission in Kosovo) did not help in finding the attackers.

Photo: Telegraf

The parents of the children who were killed are disappointed that the perpetrators of the crime have not yet been brought to justice, although, as they claim, they are known. Years pass, memorial services with them - there is no answer yet.

No one has ever been held responsible for the crime. EU's rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, has closed the investigation due to a lack of evidence. EULEX took over the investigation from the UN mission, UNMIK, when they arrived in Kosovo.

Kosovo police interviewed about 75 people in connection to this case, including the wounded children, and searched 100 houses.

In 2016, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci for the first time laid flowers at a memorial dedicated to the murdered boys, promising to work to clarify and punish every crime, but also to determine the fate of the missing.

The most serious crimes against Serbs in Kosovo (after the 1999 war) include the massacre of 14 farmers in Staro Gracko, the killing of three members Stolic family near Obilic, and the attack on a Nis Express bus near Podujevo that killed 12 passengers, who were traveling to Kosovo to visit the graves of their loved ones.

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(Telegraf.rs)