Milisav Dakic: My child's killer is walking; maybe he's laughing at me on the road

The twentieth anniversary of the crime against Serbian children in Gorazdevac was marked with a memorial service in the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Mary, and then at the graves of the murdered boys, Ivan Jovovic and Panta Dakic. Milisav Dakic, the father of the murdered Panta, says that they are feeling worse and worse day by day.

Panta Dakic was only 12, and Ivan Jovovic was 19. They went to bathe in the Bistrica River with their friends on that warm August day when their dreams were interrupted.

"How long this will last is unknown. It is not good for us Serbs, I do not know if anything will be done, not only for the murder of Ivan and Panta, but for all murders in Kosovo. I would appeal to all organizations, and structures, to get involved. For me, the feeling is the same as that day, and it will last as long as my soul lasts," Dakic said.

Even after twenty years, the perpetrators of the murder of two and the wounding of four Serbian children in Gorazdevac have not been found, and EULEX investigators stopped the investigation at the end of 2010.

Dakic adds that he does not expect the investigation to continue and, as he says, there is no information about it.

"Nobody informs us, only you journalists when you come. For us, it would mean finding out who the killer is. Imagine the killer of my child walking, maybe he's laughing at me on the road, I would be the happiest if it could be found out and everything would end," Dakic said.

On the day of the murder of Dakic and Jovovic, Bogdan Bukumiric, Dragana Srbljak, Djordje Ugrenovic, and Marko Bogicevic were also wounded.

Djordje Ugrenovic, one of the four children who were wounded on August 13, 2003, said that memories did not fade even after twenty years. He says that twenty years have passed since the murder of his comrades, but that the image of the event does not fade, and it is a special pain, he says, that none of those responsible have been found.

"All of that bothers us a lot. It was a big crime and a big blow for us in Gorazdevac. I remember that day like it was today, that stamp is indelible. We went swimming in the river, but we didn't go to the sea, winter vacations, for us the river was everything, a place where we could cool off. There were about a hundred children, and then there was a burst of fire that mowed down Panta and Ivan and us," Ugrenovic says.

Ugrenovic points out that he plans to stay in Gorazdevac with his family.

"I have four children, and I will try to always mention Ivan and Panta so that they are not forgotten and that they are always with us," Ugrenovic said.

The memorial service for the victims was also attended by the Assistant Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Milos Terzic, who then laid a wreath at the monument to all Albanian victims in the center of the village.

"On that day, they shot at Serbian children and hit what is most valuable to us and where we are most sensitive. They shot at children, and I can say that it was not only a shot at children but at the whole of Serbia. Today is 20 years since that monstrous act, Serbian children in Kosovo and Metohija live in fear, isolation, and uncertainty. And this year 2023, we had an attempt by Albanian terrorists to kill Serbian children on Christmas Day. The only fault of Ivan and Panta in 2003 is that they wanted to wear a proud Serbian name here in Metohija and that together with their parents, wishing no harm to anyone, stay and survive on the centuries-old hearths," Terzic said.

Terzic adds that the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija will always be with the Serbs in Metohija, adding that the crime will be remembered as one of the biggest stains on the international community.

"The Republic of Serbia cultivates a memory and remembers its victims and the innocent children who died in Gorazdevac, Jasenovac, and on Petrovac road, and our task and that of future generations is to seek justice that has obviously been lost somewhere. From this place we are sending a message to the international community, but also to those in Pristina, that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are unified, united in pain and sorrow, and the Serbian state is a great support and will not allow new pogroms, expulsions, ethnic cleansing, and the killing of Serbian children, not because someone in Pristina does not want it, because obviously he wants to, and we saw that on Christmas Day, because Serbia will never allow that," Terzic concluded.

In Gorazdevac, in memory of Ivan and Panta, a memorial football tournament "Remembrance of Ivan and Panta" is being held; the final will be played tomorrow on the day when the crime happened.

The funds paid by the participants - teams from Gorazdevac, Velika Hoca, and Orahovac will be donated for the reconstruction of the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin in Gorazdevac.