Justice is demanded for those killed in Likoshan and Qirez

No one has been punished even 26 years after the massacre that the Serbian police carried out in Likoshan and Qirez. The relatives of those killed demanded justice, while state representatives warned that Serbia will soon be sued for genocide.

It has been 26 years since Serbia committed the first massacre in the last war in Kosovo.

After an armed confrontation with KLA members at the place known as "Gjashte Lisat", the Police retaliated in Likoshan e Qirez. With armored vehicles on the ground and helicopters from the sky, it killed 20 civilians, among them Rukije Nebihu, who was in the seventh month of pregnancy.

Xhevdet Ahmeti from Likoshan is the only family member who was not at home on February 28, 1998.

"I happened to be in Pristina that day and when I returned to Drenas, I met my uncle Ramiz Dervish, who informed me that in the village of Likoshan there were fights between the KLA and the Serbian forces. We stay in Drenas and offer that night on February 28th to the mountain of Kamenica which can be seen at a not far aerial distance. We stay until the late hours of the night, but we cannot understand what happened. It was dark and we didn't dare to offer more," he says. "I understood from the news that there are people killed in Likoshan, even though they were not given exact numbers of how many were killed. I start to get upset and I was convinced that more than half of those killed are from our family".

When the armored vehicles left the village, Ahmeti received the terrible news. All ten husbands and sons of the family who were in the house, together with a guest, were massacred.

Although the chain of command is known, the order givers and executors have not been brought to justice. This burdens Ahmet and other family members.

"With their blood, the freedom of Kosovo was achieved, but we feel incomplete as long as justice is not done for the crime that the Serbian occupier has committed against our family members. Until today, no one has answered about this and my request to the state bodies is to do their best to bring all those responsible for this massacre, as well as others, to justice as soon as possible", he says.

In addition to 20 civilians, four KLA members were also killed. Two of them from the Beqiri family of Qirezi and two others from the Gjeli family of Likoshan.

After the massacre, Afrim Gjeli wore the KLA uniform.

"February 28, '98 is an event that has changed the history of the Albanian people."

The Speaker of the Parliament, Glauk Konjufca, also gave a rough assessment, who paid tribute to the cemeteries of those killed.

"This phase marks the beginning and massification of the Kosovo Liberation Army. They fell and sacrificed, but their blood became freedom and light for the people of Kosovo, because after these events, after these massacres and acts of genocide, no one doubted that the only way for the people of Kosovo is to weapons in hand, men and women, boys and girls, ready to liberate Kosovo", said ëKonjufca.

The Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, vowed that Serbia will soon be sued for the genocide committed in Kosovo.

"Already a close group is intensively dealing with the lawsuit for genocide, but as I mentioned, due to sensitivity, we cannot give details", she said.

And, in a post on Facebook, Prime Minister Albin Kurti wrote that justice for all victims of the Serbian genocide in Kosovo is an obligation of the Government that runs it.

Representatives of the political entities and local representatives of the Municipality of Drenas and Skenderaj also paid tribute to those killed in Likoshan and Qirez.

And, for the first time, an exhibition about the murdered people of this family has been published in the Ahmeti family museum in Likoshan.

The action of the Serbian Special Police, which started on the morning of February 28, 1998, lasted for two consecutive days.

That day, Rexhep Rexhepi (63), Beqir Rexhepi (30), Muhamet Gjeli (70) and Naser Gjeli (38) were martyred in the fighting between the KLA and the Serbian police in Drenica.

Meanwhile, the Serbian police massacred 20 unarmed Albanian civilians: the brothers Beqir (26), Nazmi (24), Bedri (24) and Bekim Sejdiu (23), then Ilir Nebihu (30), Rukie Nebihu (27), who was in the month seventh pregnancy, Xhemshir Nebihu (33), Ibish Rama (38), Behram Fazliu (50), Ismail Behrami (30), and 10 men and boys of the Ahmeti family - Ganiu (46), Ahmeti (50), Hamza ( 44), Hilmiu (44), Dritoni (23), Naimi (22), Lumniu (19), Shemsiu (18), Basriu (18) and Elhamiu (16).