Today, the Assembly of Kosovo held a commemorative session on the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of the Prekaz massacre.
Similar memorials will take place in municipal offices and schools across the country and the Kosovo army will be addressed by President Hashim Thaci, Speaker of Parliament Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and members of the Jashari family.
The attack on Prekaz was carried out by the so-called “Special Anti-Terrorism Unit of Serbia” on 5 March 1998. The massacre resulted in the death of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader Adem Jashari and his brother Hamez, as well as 56 other members of the Jashari family. At least 28 of those murdered were women and children.
Adem was one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who fought for Kosovo’s secession from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the 90s, as well as the concept of a Greater Albania. He is considered as the father of the KLA and a symbol of Kosovo’s independence.
While Serbia claimed they were retaliating against KLA attacks on police outposts, Amnesty International found that “all evidence suggests that the attack was not intended to apprehend armed Albanians, but rather to eliminate the suspects and their families.” In the aftermath of the attack, 15,000 people demonstrated in Prishtina, followed by marches of more than 100,000 people across American cities and European capitals in late March.
