Bujanovac priest: My family and parish house were targeted by Albanian youths

Serbian Orthodox Church priest Boban Ilic from Bujanovac said that he and his family had been targeted by three Albanian youths outside the parish house in the center of the town and that the incident lasted around 45 minutes, until the police arrived, Bujanovacke reported.

"They shouted 'KLA' and 'Allahu Akbar,' waved an Albanian flag, banged on the windows, and urinated on the doorstep of the parish house," the priest said.

He believes that the incident targeting him and the parish house, which occurred on Wednesday evening, was not accidental and that the perpetrators knew exactly what they were doing and whom they were targeting.

Ilic said that when the youths arrived, at around 10:30 p.m., he was inside the house with his wife and grandchildren. His wife, he added, had gone into the courtyard to collect the laundry and clean the hall where meetings of the church board are held.

Earlier that day, he said, a meeting concerning the construction of a new church near the parish house had been held there, attended by Bishop Pahomije.

"They arrived by car and parked right in front of the entrance. They played loud Albanian music. At first, my wife did not realize that anything serious was happening; she thought the music was coming from the street," Ilic said.

According to him, she then moved behind the gate and watched them while he remained inside with his grandchildren.

"They took out a flag and waved it in front of the house, banged on the window of the hall where we hold meetings, and then all three of them urinated in front of the entrance, right on the doorstep, after which they left," Ilic said.

When he came downstairs, his wife showed him what had happened.

"We started cleaning it up. We were wondering whether we should call the police because we did not want to provoke a larger incident," he said.

However, according to his account, the youths soon returned.

"They came back again. The music was at full volume. Twice they drove into a nearby parking lot, revving the engine and drifting, as they call it. They were driving a black Audi, the windows were open, and the music was loud," Ilic said.

According to him, they returned for a third time, again playing loud music and shouting "KLA" and "Allahu Akbar," while making gestures.

"That was when I called the police, because it was better to call the police than to wait for them to do something else. I did not know what they might do next," Ilic said.

He said that the entire incident lasted around 45 minutes, until the police arrived.

He added that both he and his wife were deeply distressed after the incident, particularly because of the way the youths had been driving.

"We were afraid that, God forbid, they might injure someone with the car. I fear no one but the Lord, but this was sheer thuggery, completely unprovoked," the priest said.

According to Ilic, the police confirmed to him that two suspects had been arrested that same evening. He added that after giving his statement to the police, he was informed that the investigation was ongoing.

Ilic stressed that he did not want to generalize and that there were people with malicious intentions in every community who needed to be stopped.

"It was terrible. In my view, they came there deliberately," Ilic said.

Bujanovacke is still awaiting a response from the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Vranje regarding the incident.