Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Even after 27 years, there is still no justice for the murdered harvesters from Staro Gracko

On this day in 1999, 14 innocent Serbs from the village of Staro Gracko were brutally murdered while working in the fields. Twenty-seven years have passed since the crime, which was committed in the presence of international forces, yet no one has been held accountable for the martyrdom of the harvesters, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a statement.

The crime took place in the cadastral area of the village of Bujance, about 20 kilometers south of Pristina, when 14 residents of Staro Gracko were killed while carrying out agricultural work after harvesting and collecting grain.

The attack took place in the evening, a few minutes after 9 p.m., on July 23, 1999.

The victims were: Milovan Jovanovic (1969), Jovica Zivic (1970), Radovan Zivic (1967), Andrija Odalovic (1967), Slobodan Janicijevic (1965), Mile Janicijevic (1957), Novica Janicijevic (1981), Momcilo Janicijevic (1946), Stanimir Dekic (1955), Bozidar Dekic (1947), Saza Cvejic (1973), Ljubisa Cvejic (1939), Nikola Stojanovic (1936), and Miodrag Tepsic (1951).

The youngest among them was 17-year-old Novica Janicijevic.

"The ideology of hatred that motivated the terrorists to brutally end the lives of these innocent Serbs is, unfortunately, still recognizable today in the political practices of numerous actors in Pristina, resulting for years in the systematic disenfranchisement of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija," the Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated.

The killers were never found, and the international judiciary in Kosovo closed the case.

"We remind that this monstrous crime took place before the eyes of international forces, which failed to prevent the terrorists' rampage and protect our compatriots, just as they failed to do in many other murders of Serbs. To this day, the perpetrators of this crime have not been brought to justice, while the investigation was closed due to an alleged lack of evidence. 

However, the Republic of Serbia will continue to honor the victims with dignity and respect, while also continuing to demand that the perpetrators and those who ordered this horrific massacre of Serbs be identified and punished," the statement said.

This was one of the largest crimes committed against Serbs in Kosovo after the arrival of international forces.

The crime occurred about ten days after the deployment of international troops. At the time, Staro Gracko was under the control of the British contingent of KFOR.

British soldiers conducted an investigation and identified possible Albanian perpetrators, but by the time UNMIK investigators took over, the suspects had disappeared without a trace.

After taking over the case from UNMIK, EULEX closed the investigation due to a lack of evidence, even though investigators had found a pistol belonging to one of the murdered Serbs in the possession of one of the Albanian suspects.

"The families and friends of the murdered Serbian harvesters deserve the truth and justice, and solving this and other crimes committed against Serbs is a civilizational and humanitarian obligation for those who today bear the greatest responsibility for creating the political and social climate in Kosovo and Metohija," the Office for Kosovo and Metohija concluded.