Abri e Eperme, Drenas, 26 September, 2023
On the 25th anniversary of the massacre in Upper Drenas, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, commemorated the 23 killed of the Deliu family and the three martyrs who fell on September 26, 1998.
Together with the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, the Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, and the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Blerim Gashani, and Prime Minister Kurti paid homage to the graves and laid flowers in front of the memorial erected in their honor.
“In these cemeteries rest the killed, among them both sexes and all ages, who according to their dates of birth, were six-month-old babies, up to 94-year-old old men, all of them killed by the infantry. A pregnant woman’s belly was also cut here and she drowned with her unborn child, while Diturije Deliu was a baby who was found alive in his mother’s chest with blood”, said Prime Minister Kurti.
While commemorating the civilians killed by the massacre carried out by the Serbian armed forces on the Deliu family, Prime Minister Kurti said that these are undeniable facts of our painful history, but also facts of the crimes committed by Serbia, of the Serbian genocide. He emphasized that nobody has been accused, tried or convicted for this massacre until today.
Prime Minister Kurti said that these families who give us courage with their endurance need our support as a state and as a society. He emphasized that it is necessary that the justice bodies, and in the first place the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo, that these living witnesses of these family members killed in this brutal and cruel massacre, should be contacted and talked in order to have accusations , indictments and sentences against those soulless criminals.
After paying homage at the Deliu family cemetery, Prime Minister Kurti paid homage at the graves of martyrs Valdet Xhemajli, Vesel Demaku and Afrim Hajdaraj. The Prime Minister laid flowers at the memorial plaque in honor of the memory of the martyrs who fell in the battle of September 26, 1998 protecting the civilian population.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete statement:
Together with the Ministers of Justice and Defense, Albulena Haxhiu and Ejup Maqedonci, and with the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Blerim Gashani, we came here where 23 members of the Deliu family and 11 members of the Muliqi family rest in Abri in Drenica on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the terrible and cruel massacre that the Serbian enemy forces carried out on the civilian population. That all these were killed by the infantry and among them both sexes and all ages. From a six-month-old baby to a 94-year-old man.
Among the killed are two girls, Antigona and Mihanja, who were 14 and 16 years old, and who were killed after being raped. A pregnant woman who drowned with her unborn child was also cut open here, while Diturije Deliu was a baby who was found alive in his mother’s bloodied chest. Meanwhile, he passed away two months later, while he was being transferred from Likovci to Tërdec, to meet those who were guardians, a war doctor at the time, for a check-up.
Also, the sister of our deputy minister, Blerim Gashani, Mihane Gashani was killed here along with her two-year-old son, Valmir.
These are undeniable facts of our painful history, but also facts of the crimes committed by Serbia, of the genocide of Serbia, specifically for this massacre as we commemorate the 25th anniversary of our dearest, it has not been accused, tried, convicted by no one to date.
Therefore, in addition to these families needing our support as a state and as a society, in addition to the fact that they give us courage with their endurance, it is necessary that the justice bodies, and first of all the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kosovo, that these witnesses alive of these family members killed in this brutal and cruel massacre to be contacted and talked so that we can have accusations, indictments and punishments against those heartless criminals.
Glory to all those who fell for the freedom of Kosovo!
Last modified: September 26, 2023