Today marks 27 years since the killing and brutal massacre of 13 innocent civilians in the village of Stagove, in Kacanik.
On May 21, 1999, 13 citizens of Kosovo were brutally killed by terrorist forces of the Milosevic regime, including a 7-year-old child, Fitim Gudaqi. Also killed on that day were: Hanife Jaha, Selvije Krivanjeva, Baki Bela, Hanife Gudaqi, Ramush Jaha, Ibush Rrushi, Ramadan Dashi, Fahri Mani, Bahrije Elezi, Sevdije Guri, Hamdi Dashi, and Brahim Dashi. In defense of civilians, martyr Ekrem Gudaqi also fell on this day.
The Stagove massacre is among the 15 most horrific massacres that took place in Kosovo, for which former leaders of the criminal regime of Serbia, led by war criminal Slobodan Milosevic, were indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague for war crimes, although no one has been convicted for this heinous crime.
Regarding the Stagove massacre, the ICTY investigative team, in the autopsy of 10 of the killed victims, confirmed their murders, and the case was investigated as part of war crimes inquiries in Kosovo, carried out by Serbian military and police units.
May 21, 1999, in addition to bringing grief to the residents of Stagovë, is also remembered for destruction, burning, and the killing of livestock.
Out of 180 houses in the village as of May 20, the following day Serbian paramilitary forces burned and destroyed more than 50 percent of them.
These facts clearly point to the intentions of the Milosevic regime, which aimed not only at physical destruction but also at the material eradication of the Albanian population, an act described as having genocidal intent against Kosovo Albanians.
On the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the fallen martyrs and victims, the organizing councils of the villages Runjevë and Stagovë, in cooperation with the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) Veterans Organization and with the support of the Municipality of Kacanik, are organizing commemorative events.
The ceremony will be held in Stagovë at the “Agim Bajrami” Primary School, starting at 14:00.
After the conclusion of the event, homage will be paid at the Memorial Complex at the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Kacanik.
