Dyz, Podujevë, 18 April, 2024
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, after the tributes on the occasion of the Martyrs’ Day of the Municipality of Pristina, today also paid tributes in Dyz of Podujeva. On the 25th anniversary of the massacre carried out by the armed forces of Serbia, over 200 killed were commemorated there.
“The forces of Serbia here in the territories of Gollak and Llap, in Dyz and Koliq, have killed over 200 unarmed, defenseless civilians, without sparing the elderly or small children. To this day, although we have freedom, independence, the state and democracy, we do not have justice for these terrible losses experienced by the people, especially the families”, said Prime Minister Kurti.
Prime Minister Kurti said that the full truth is in the archives in Belgrade, of the army and the police there. He reiterated the need for justice and the call to the prosecution and our judiciary to interview witnesses, collect material evidence and start with indictments, trials and punishments in absentia.
“We must not forget that the freedom we enjoy, but also the responsibilities we have in the state have their roots in the blood of the martyrs, which cannot be atoned for, and their names, which cannot be forgotten, because they already belong to the history of our people” concluded the Prime Minister, honoring the heroically fallen martyrs in Dyz, Llap and Gollak, and throughout Kosovo.
In these tributes, Prime Minister Kurti was accompanied by the Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, the Mayor of Podujeva, Shpejtim Bulliqi, deputies of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, as well as representatives of central and local institutions.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete statement:
25 years ago, while implementing the genocidal project for the extermination of Albanians, the forces of Serbia here in the territories of Gollaku and Llap, in Dyz and Koliq, killed over 200 unarmed, defenseless civilians, without sparing the elderly or small children. To this day, although we have freedom, independence, the state and democracy, we do not have justice for these terrible losses that the people and especially the families have experienced, and for these open wounds that continue to bleed since both the order givers and the executors never face justice.
36 graves are here in Dyz, but there are more than 200 in total, because 25 years ago in the middle of April, the inhabitants of these areas tried to find the way of salvation in villages like Makoc, Llukar, Grashticë, Dyz and Koliq, that is, here they have were the countries where they tried to escape, but they were followed by forces who had no qualms about killing Albanians. The only dilemmas they had were how to eliminate the traces of the crime, how to eliminate the corpses and in this way not to find out about that crime.
The truth is known. The full truth is in the archives in Belgrade, of the army and the police there. But we need justice, and for this I call once again on the Prosecutor’s Office and the judiciary in our country, to do everything they can and know, to interview all the witnesses, collect the material evidence and start with indictments, with trials and punishments in absentia for those killed in this region.
Because we must not forget that the freedom we enjoy, but also the responsibilities we have in the state have their roots in the blood of the martyrs, which cannot be atoned for, and their names, which cannot be forgotten, because they already belong to the history of our people.
Glory to all martyrs and martyrs, here in Dyz, in Llap and Gollak and all over Kosovo who fell heroically a quarter of a century ago.
Last modified: April 19, 2024