An Albanian man shot in Donja Bitinja and left a wreath on a Serb’s house, afterwards, he was arrested

An Albanian from the vicinity of Prizren fired several shots around noon in the center of the village of Donja Bitinja, in the municipality of Strpce. Additionally, he placed a wreath with flowers on the wall of the house belonging to Serbian citizen Svetislav Stojkovic. The Police Station in Strpce confirmed to Kosovo Online that the individual who had fired the shots had been arrested.

According to the residents of Donja Bitinja, a wreath with flowers and a message in Albanian was placed on the wall of the house belonging to Svetislav Stojkovic, who lives and works in Switzerland.

Immediately after the shooting, they gathered at the scene. One of them, Jovica Staletovic, emphasizes that perhaps only by sheer luck nothing more serious happened, and no one was injured.

"Somewhere around 11:45, we heard an individual, followed by four consecutive shots. While we were wondering what had happened, we gathered here and saw that the wreath was placed where it shouldn't be because there has never been a grave there; which is slightly lower. He remembered after 81 years that his grandfather was killed in World War II, killed by the Bulgarians, not by Serbs," Staletovic explained.

He adds that the individual is from Maqiteve near Prizren.

"They want to intimidate us. It's bad enough he placed the wreath, but why did he shoot? What if someone was nearby, like on Christmas Eve last year? Someone could have been hurt," he said with concern.

He also adds that, in front of the police officers, he cursed the gathered locals.

"After that, he returned, the bullet is still there, and he picked up the shells," Staletovic said.

The incident has instilled fear among the residents.

"We're scared; our neighbors are here. We don't know whom they're hiding or what they're doing because they should be standing in solidarity with us now. We don't have issues with our neighbors, but outsiders come... A few evenings ago, on the anniversary of Adem Jashari's death, they lit a fire above the church, and we didn't report that. But our neighbors did it, and provoked," Staletovic said.

Residents also say that members of the same Albanian family tried to erect a monument in the yard of the Stojkovic family's house six years ago, but they protested, and the monument was immediately removed.

The Police Station in Strpce confirmed to Kosovo Online that the incident had occurred, an investigation was ongoing, and the individual who had fired shots had been arrested.

This is about a 68-year-old Albanian, identified as N.N., from the municipality of Suva Reka, who has been detained for 48 hours.

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Donja Bitinja is a multi-ethnic village where both Serbs and Albanians live.