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Marked anniversary of the March pogrom - 15 years of no justice (Kontakt plus radio)

Memorial service in Mitrovica North for Serbs killed on this day in 2004, was served in front of the “Monument to the truth”, by laying flowers and lighting candles at a memorial plaque of Jana Tucev and Borivoje Spasojevic, has marked the 15th anniversary of the March pogrom, reported Kontakt plus radio.

Fifteen years ago, Dragan Spasojevic was left without a father in the Kosovo riots in North Mitrovica. Borivoje Spasojevic was killed in Kolasinska street in Mitrovica North.

In a statement for Kontakt plus radio Dragan Spasojevic says that even after 15 years there is no justice.

“For 15 years there is no justice, but here, for 15 years, Serbia recalls the pogrom of its citizens. As every year, people mark the anniversary on 17 March. I am looking for justice in Serbia, not in the justice of the international community, such as it is now, in a current form, nor in the present provisional institutions. They really do not have the wish to be leaders of their own, nor of the other people present here. They run the daily politics, they look to provoke as many conflicts as possible, to remain in power, to give no real solutions. If there was little will and wish, they would find the perpetrators, justice would be satisfied, and that would allow some other things to live more peacefully in this area; however, nothing,” Spasojevic said.

The flowers were laid by representatives of the Office for KiM, the interim municipal council, members of families of victims in the March pogrom, representatives of the Serbian List and others.

“The Serbian people today, after 15 years, are experiencing terror. They are killing us today by depriving us our right to life. The March pogrom continues – we live in hard times, and what is ahead is surely going to be harder. That is why it is very important that we remember and respect everyone who gave own lives not just for Kosovska Mitrovica, but for the entire Kosmet and Serbia, to love our Serbia, to be united finally. We pay tribute to the people who gave their lives, but we do not forget our perseverance to be here forever, to last and to have us as much as possible”, said the president of the Interim Municipal Council of Kosovska Mitrovica, Aleksandar Spiric.

“The great world was silent on 17 March 2004, it is still silent today, believing that the truth will be covered with silence. But we will not be in silence, we remember and ask for the perpetrators of this crime, this genocide, to be found, and that finally, the perpetrators of this crime will come not only under God, but also under the earthly sanction,” said the President of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic.

“We cannot, without asking ourselves, why for 15 years we have no elementary justice for the victims of the massacre, for 35 burned churches, the Bogoslovija, the Virgin of Ljevis, Devic ... for the cemeteries, for the innocent victims ... Why for 20 years since the aggression on our land there is no justice and respect of the international law when it comes to the position of the Serbian and other non-Albanian peoples in the territory of KiM”, said Assistant Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Dusan Kozarev.

On the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of the March pogrom, an exhibition of photographs called “We Remember” was opened at the City Museum in North Mitrovica.

The 17 photographs show monasteries and churches in Kosovo before their destruction and how they look today.