Hoxha who buried Recak's victims: Serbs persecuted me, wanted to eliminate traces of massacre

Tomorrow it is 21 years since Serbian police and military forces committed one of the most painful massacres against humanity in Recak.

Despite 21 years of age, the hoja Isa Thurshan of the Entrance has enjoyed the refreshing experiences of this harsh and memorable event that shocked the world.

No doubt as many times as January 15th comes, it is a reminder of poor feelings because those days have been difficult for the entire population of Kosovo, especially for the municipality of Shtime and the families of victims. We are people and emotions are inevitable, with news of Recak's Massacre and the fall of those victims was a poor mood for residents of the area of entry, then low power games with Recak's corpses were unimaginable”, he says.

Isa Tarshan, who had the fortune to be one of the boats that went to the funeral of the 45 victims of Recak, in a story of Online Economics, shows that the then Serb regime, besides the macabre crime against the residents here, committed another crime by playing nasty body games that held them hostage nearly 1 months.

He shows that Serbian police had put great pressure on Recak's victims to be buried in three different locations.

And it was a multiple crime three days before they brought the bodies to Recak I had tremendous pressure from the police back then and insisted that the victims or victims of Recak be buried not all together and that 10 people be divided into more than 10 or 15 people in Petrova and others in Molopox. I remember very well those days there were cold days, there was snow, I had a burial case, and the police took me away. I told them if I could finish the funeral.

The mosque's Imam, who is at the same time chairman of the Islamic Community Council in this town, shows the pressure he had experienced at the police station to perform the funeral ceremony just as he was convening the Serbian regime.

After the funeral party called me at the police station, then the commander had a harsh language an incorrect language and said you must perform their burial, and not all together but in 3 parts. I said I'm sorry, but I'm an imam or I'm an uncle for the Shtime Mosque. We under the rules of the Islamic Community have our own turf and no imam has the right to perform the burial of the other mosque's gamma, so I have no competencies here, for such competencies you should ask permission from the Centre”, he claims.

The “Insistance was extremely high, attitudes were not pleasant, for three consecutive days continued. But then we met with the offices of the Democratic League of Kosovo, where the victims' families stayed because members of the O organization arrived. The SBE received information from both family and Democratic League activists, and for everything I announced the leadership of the Democratic League”, he says.

The former Serbian system did not limit the slaughter of dozens of residents here and thus put great pressure on the victims to bury the victims without any ceremony and large oxen and thus provided ultimatums for organisers to be buried dead bodies as soon as and quietly as possible, and with them the traces of macabre crime.

The last “, the night of the 3rd has been a very critical night where the ultimatum was very clear and very strict, finally came to the same condition that we 28 corpses brought from Pristina we will bring and empty them into the entry mosque. I said those bodies I don't admit, because they're not corpses of my jammat, I'm sorry to say that too because family might be touched, but I had a reason not to leave them in the Shtime Mosque”.

And from there I announced to my family the LDK office, that if they put any pressure on violence, I don't know how much you get out of my neck if something eventually comes along. Don't look at me big. I willingly did not take such a step and wanted the great god that they did not do such an act after many attempts, so the next day all the bodies came and on Recak's road we arranged together with the LDK's office the family of the victims and brought them here to Recak's mosque with us as late professor Zekirija Cana and we put all the corpses in the mosque<1>.

The attempt to bury corpses at various locations imam Is Trshan sees as argument that Serbia has knowingly exercised unprecedented pressure on the civilian population in Kosovo.

I certainly think that there were 2 reasons here, the first reason to lose or cover a crime committed, and the reason of 2 is not to have a sense of opinion and to have the least measure in the funeral of victims. Therefore, the very fact that the government of Serbia's then government insists on becoming a separate burial is clearly understood today that it has committed an unforeseen crime. So thank God and our people family and burial circles are done in the best way possible according to the data they've existed because normally goods have no limit to”, he says.

Tarshan: Tomb took place under full surveillance of Serbian forces

After nearly a month, Serbian forces finally handed down the victims they slaughtered to their families, and on February 11, 1999, the burial ceremony attended by Albanians from all ethnic lands.

And the imam Tershan shows that even during the mortore ceremony, Serb forces were under surveillance.

After the bodies arrived in Recak's mosque and the location of the cemetery was located along with the late imam Mahmut Mahmutin we've come to the site of the cemetery and we've determined where to bury so in a religious way it's the right side of the deceased's position to be on the Qibla. The boys and the villagers of Recak have come out, immediately opened the graves, and tried to make tomorrow the best day to honor those who had fallen almost a month earlier”, he says.

In his confession to Online Economics microphone, Uncle Isa Turshan relates how Recak's 40 martyrs were buried.

There's no doubt that they're sad memories, it's difficult times not just for me that no family really is here when you count your family's feelings. Tomorrow has been an extremely good day, there have been measures from all Albanian lands. The burial organization has been extremely good. The most impressive presence has made the international presence, or former Ambassador Walker, who delivered an extremely significant speech, despite what in the rest were Serb forces watching every moment. Even to bury the victims of Recak in line, all were on people's shoulders and hands, because 40 victims to be buried were no easy task”, he says.

Recak's massacre was the mass murder of 45 Albanians from Kosovo that took place in the village of Recak, in central Kosovo, in January 1999. The massacre was organised and carried out by Serbian police, military and paramilitary forces.

The then ambassador who was the leader of O'S verifiating mission The SEU in Kosovo, William Walker, conveyed the message worldwide that a crime against humanity had occurred in Recak. This declaration followed NATO bombings against Serb targets in Kosovo and Serbia.