Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop Teodosije served today a memorial service to 14 Serb harvesters, killed two decades ago, in the village of Staro Gracko, Lipljan municipality, SRNA news agency reported.
Following the service, Bishop Teodosije said that “for twenty years we gather in Staro Gracko and recall this heinous crime for which no one was held responsible”.
Bishop Teodosije also said unpunished criminals did not stop after killing the 14 harvesters, but mined the cemetery in 2000 and later demolished and desecrated a memorial plaque placed in the center of the village.
“This is not the first time that those with stained conscience get in conflict with deceased ones, because the victims remind the criminals that the crime cannot be hidden,” Bishop Teodosije said, adding he believes the conscience of mighty ones did not extinguish completely and that order givers and those who have committed the crime in Staro Gracko would face the justice.
Office for Kosovo and Metohija Deputy Director Petar Petkovic said the state of Serbia will never give up requesting that order givers and those who have committed the murders face the justice.
“They were killed just because they were Serbs and determined to stay in their home places,” Petkovic said. He added the crime in Staro Gracko represents the inerasable stain on the face of the international community that did nothing up today to shed the light on this crime.
“The Special Court that would try members of KLA for the crimes they committed against the Serbs is the last chance for the international community to demonstrate it is committed to the justice and rights as well as the shedding the lights on all crimes in Kosovo and Metohija,” Petkovic said.
Chairman of the Serbian Missing Persons Committee Veljko Odalovic told SRNA Serbia has submitted to the Special Prosecution in The Hague all documentation, based on which it would be easy to determine who the perpetrators are and who is responsible for the crimes committed not only in Staro Gracko but in an entire territory of Kosovo.
Relatives, friends of murdered harvesters, Srpska Lista representatives and residents from villages in Lipljan municipality attended the memorial ceremony.
