Peric: An Albanian with a KLA ID prevented us from returning the memorial plaque

Today, the Peric family from Gracanica was prevented by an unidentified person claiming to be a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) from returning the memorial plaque dedicated to Biljana Peric, a young girl who tragically died thirty years ago. The plaque had been removed a few days earlier by an Albanian man who owns nearby property.

Aleksandar Peric explained that they had intended today to reinstall the memorial plaque for his sister, which had been in that location for decades. According to him, an unknown Albanian man arrived, showed a KLA identification badge, and, together with the property owner who had removed the plaque earlier, forbade them from continuing the work.

"Today we came to reinstall the memorial plaque for my late sister, which was torn down last week. An Albanian man, unknown to us, showed up. He began threatening us, saying it couldn't be placed there, that this isn't a cemetery, that this is Kosovo, not Serbia, and that this is no longer Milosevic's time. He then showed me a KLA ID badge and said, 'Look, I'm KLA, watch what you're doing.' After that, he contacted the property owner, who came over, and now they won’t let us return the plaque to its place. We're now on our way to the police station to give a statement and figure out what we can do next," Peric recounted.

He emphasized that the memorial plaque had been in that location for 30 years and that someone had granted permission for it to be installed there at the time.

He added that they are hoping for support from the Kosovo Police, as well as the Municipality of Gracanica.