Mališevo Mass Grave
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Mališevo Mass Grave
OR:
Mališevo Mass Grave on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The Mališevo mass grave is a grave found in 2005 in the town of
Malisheva Malisheva, ) is a List of cities and towns in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality in Kosovo. The municipality is part of the District of Prizren and it is located in the central part of Kosovo. Malisheva has a population of 43, ...
,
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
. The grave contained the bodies of 12
Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...
civilians and 1 ethnic Bulgarian, executed during the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
by the
Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...
(KLA).


Prelude

Between 17 and 20 July 1998, the KLA mounted a large-scale offensive in and around the town of
Rahovec Rahovec ( sq-definite, Rahoveci) or Orahovac ( sr-Cyrl, Ораховац), is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Gjakova in western Kosovo. According to the 2024 census, the town ...
in western Kosovo. The KLA managed to abduct 85 Serb civilians during the offensive from local Serb villages and the
Zočište Monastery The Zočište Monastery (; ) or formally St. Cosmas and Damian's Monastery () is a Serbian Orthodox monastery belonging to the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren, situated in the village of Zočište, about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Orahovac, Kos ...
. The offensive failed and during their retreat, the KLA released 45 Serb civilians in the days following the offensive, however approximately 40 remained in KLA detention.


Massacre

According to an indictment filed by the
Kosovo Specialist Chambers The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Специјализована већа Косова, Specijalizovana veća Kosova) is a court of Kosovo, located in The Hague (Netherlands), hosting four ''Specialist Chambers'' and the ''S ...
against former Kosovo President
Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovo Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the Foreign minister and deputy pri ...
, during the offensive in Orahovac on 17 July 1998, 11 Serb civilians captured by the KLA were transferred to the KLA stronghold of Mališevo. The 11 Serb civilians were placed in a basement of a building, housing two more detained civilians and were subsequently beaten by their KLA captors. On 19 July 1998, the prisoners were loaded into a van and were driven to a nearby location. The 13 prisoners were executed and subsequently buried.


Aftermath

The grave was discovered in May 2005 close to the Mališevo hospital, approximately 100 meters from the main road leading through Mališevo. The discovery came one month after another mass grave was discovered consisting of 22 Serb civilians in the town of
Klina Klina (Albanian language, Albanian: ''Klinë'' or ''Klina'') is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Peja of north-western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Klina h ...
. The 13 bodies were later identified as 12 Serbs and 1 ethnic Bulgarian, all men between the ages of 24 and 70. Four former senior KLA members including
Kadri Veseli Kadri Veseli (born 31 May 1967) is a Kosovo Albanian politician, former chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo and the Kosovo Intelligence Service. He is the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo. Veseli was one of the founders and leaders of th ...
, Hashim Thaci,
Jakup Krasniqi Jakup Krasniqi (born 1 January 1951) is a Kosovo-Albanian politician and former acting president of Kosovo. He is former chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo. In 2020, he was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Kosovo War ...
and
Rexhep Selimi Rexhep Selimi (born 15 March 1971) is a Kosovo-Albanian politician and former parliamentary leader of Vetëvendosje. He was also one of the founders and high-ranking commandants of the Kosovo Liberation Army. In 2020, he was indicted for war cri ...
were indicted for various war crimes including the massacre of 13 civilians in Malisheva.


See also

* Ugljare mass grave *
Batajnica mass graves The Batajnica mass graves are mass graves that were found in 2001 near Batajnica, a suburb of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The graves contained the bodies of 744 Kosovar Albanians civilians that were killed during the Kosovo War. The mass gra ...
*
Rudnica mass grave The Rudnica mass grave is a site in Rudnica, southern Serbia where Kosovo Albanian victims of Serbian operations were transferred from several areas in Kosovo and buried in the site during the Kosovo War. The grave contains remains of 250 individu ...


References

{{reflist Anti-Serbian sentiment Massacres in the Kosovo War Massacres of Serbs Ethnic cleansing in the Yugoslav Wars Albanian war crimes in the Kosovo War Mass graves Massacres in Kosovo