25 years after the massacre of Qirezi and Likoshan, the families demand justice for the 24 killed

However, even the investigators did not go to Likoshan and Qirez. On this anniversary, family members and witnesses of the massacre remember the crimes committed by Serbian forces during the execution of 24 Albanian civilians. While the witnesses are getting old and some have even died, none of those responsible for the crime have been brought to justice. The family members recount the incident with the hope that justice will one day be served. The story contains gruesome footage from the massacres committed 25 years ago.

"Growing up without a parent is hard, but thank God we have our mother, grandfather and grandmother who have always supported us... It's hard, but sooner or later justice will come."

Endrita Sejdiu still holds this hope, who was only two and a half months old when, 25 years ago, Serbian forces killed her father and three uncles in Qirez of Skenderaj.

Sitting in the room that holds many photographs and memories, she listens to the confessions of her 81-year-old grandfather, Sheremet Sejdiu, which the justice authorities did not pay attention to for 25 years.

Sejdiu tells about the day when the Serbs killed all four of his sons.

"Hallokja told me that I'd rather not have boys. I said as God said, I belong to God, I had no other. I saw that I went to that state, I relied on God and I saw that only the living captives were saved. You had no chance for them, what happened to me. God gave me a strength, I adhered to it, I stood by it", said Sejdiu.

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25 years ago in Likoshan and Qirez, Serbian police killed unarmed women, old men, men and young people in their backyards. They did it as a sign of revenge after the fight they had with the KLA unit at the place called "Six Oaks" in Likoshan.

From that time, Sheremet Sejdiu was never interviewed as a witness for the crimes that had taken place in his village.

"No never. I have all the letters of Bajram Kelmendi when he was in the court then and I took the haloka and the stick to tell me how they had evidence. But Bajram was killed with children and his wife is dead. Nowhere", said Sejdiu.

One of the sons of the Nebihu family was also killed in the yard of the Sejdiu family. A little further, the other son of this family and the seven-month pregnant bride were also killed. However, the testimony that their mother, Elhame Ahmeti, had once given, remained unheard by the state, since she died two years ago.

In a KTV documentary in 2007, she talks about the critical moment.

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"Rukija, the cap of the crest. I have taken this body of ours and I have collected its brains and I have made it so that others cannot see it, even the pregnant one. They went inside and fell to Xhemshir. The son was also killed. I threw the water and all the children sat down", said Elhame Ahmeti.

The Ahmeti family from Likoshan experienced the worst, from which ten men were taken out and then killed. Two members of the Xheli family were also killed in the neighboring house.

Xhevdet Ahmeti did not shoot at home that day and is the only one of the men who escaped the massacre.

"The execution had been heavy, painful and they had massacred our family, Behram Fazliu, and the offensive had also continued on the village of Qirez, where on this occasion 24 Albanians were killed on February 28, 1998," said Ahmeti.

Ahmeti expresses his disappointment with the justice bodies that did nothing to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice.

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"The Serbian state is responsible for this massacre, this was an isolated case as the orders for their execution were given by the highest state bodies of Serbia... by the prosecutors and no one else, we have not interviewed the family members regarding this case and so far no one has answered for this massacre", said Ahmeti.

The massacre in Likoshan and Qirez is the first of those that the Serbian state has committed in Kosovo during 1998 and 1999.