Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Border guard sentenced to year in prison for killing ethnic Albanian youth

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - A Serbian court sentenced a border guard to one year in prison Tuesday for shooting and killing an ethnic Albanian youth in January.

The District Court in Nis, about 180 kilometers (108 miles) southeast of Belgrade, ruled that Dejan Jovanovic, 28, "violated rules in guarding the state boundary" when he fired at Dashim Hajrulahu, 16, while the youth was illegally crossing the border with Macedonia.

The January shooting increased ethnic tensions in volatile southern Serbia bordering Kosovo, which was the scene in 1999-2000 of an ethnic Albanian rebellion.

Jovanovic, a displaced Serb from Kosovo, was serving in the military as a border guard when Hajrulahu tried to cross illegally from Macedonia, where he had visited family relatives.

Judge Radomir Mladenovic ruled that Jovanovic should have fired warning shots in the air before shooting Hajrulahu. The guard said he thought Hajrulahu was armed but no weapon was found.

There was no immediate comment from Hajrulahu's family or local ethnic Albanian leaders.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

One year for murder, what a joke, serb court in action again, and I had been reading posts here from serbs wanting serb war crimnals to tried by serb courts. Now just image how that would end up...just like the current situation in serbia, You have a country full of muderers walking the streets like free men! SHAME ON U!

Anonymous said...

One year for shooting an albanian. The EU probably wont even comment on that but they will jump on to conclusions if one serb is killed by Serb Secret services currently active in Kosova. What a hipocrisy. Shame on EU!

Anonymous said...

If the kid was not crossing the border illegally, this would not have been a problem.

Shame on everyone.

EXACTLY what charge(s) was the Serb brought up on?

Anonymous said...

Continuation...

He was convicted on violating rules in guarding the state boundary and not the actual killing.

Point being the kid should have not crossed there.

Tragic in any case.

Anonymous said...

As I second in the second post killing an albanian is a non-issue. Braking border regulations is. He was a Kosovo serb and wanted to kill an albanian just like his other compatriots did and got one year in jail. Shame!
Sooner or later we albanians have to stand up to this murderers one more time, even if it means we all shall be killed.

Anonymous said...

That an Albanian in the forgotten Presheva Vallely gets killed by a trigger-happy Serb is nothing new. The sad part in all this is that the Serb state still sanctions such behavior.

Yes Serbs get killed in Kosova too, but the state doesn't root for the killers.

Anonymous said...

I believe the worst part of this story is that in the 21st century an Albanian has to cross the border illegally to visit his family. This is a depiction of the Albanian story in the Balkans, divided into six states and unable to live in peace from wretched blood-hungry neighbors. Has a Serb ever had to cross the border illegally to visit family members? I highly doubt that. Our families have been separated by illegitimate border drawings, and as long as those borders stand Albanians will be killed by other trigger-happy neighbors.
Lesson for the future.

Anonymous said...

one year?! what a joke. why sentence the serb at all. I am for the resolvment of our problems through dialogue and peace but this, this is too much. When two serbs were killed in kosovo, (by unknown people none the less, they could have been very well serbs) the serbs were quick about blaming albanians and saying that an independent kosovo will bring more of that. I am pissed at our politicians for not asking what did serbia do better when they had the power? I am sick of this and of the big nations who by trying to please everyone make things worse. Albania should be for Albanians and if tomorrow in EU there won't be any borders I say give back what you took unjustly from us when you crippled Albania and I'll think about tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Sixteen years old, probably poor and having to live under the gun of a Serb and a Macedonian!
This is our fault not the Serbs or the Macedonians.
Until we realise that the only solution for the Albanians is a united Albania we will always live in the crosshairs of our enemies sniper scopes.
The Greeks, Macedonians, Serbs and Montenigrins all hate our guts, consider us second hand citizens and will never view us as equals.
The EU is the same place that gave our lands away in 1912!
When will the Albanians open their eyes?

Anonymous said...

what? i don't get it, at least the serbs caught and sentenced the soilder who was ahh doing what soilders on the border do, prtcting the border lines. r u kidding me?? how many albos were covicted for the march 17th pogrom??what about a few days ago? not even one person arrested!!!!!!! typical albo crying n beggin for others to do ur work n fight for u.

Anonymous said...

Albanians should be allowed to run the justice system themselves: in Presheva Valley to stem the racism inherent in the system and in Kosova to replace the inanimate UNMIK judges and investigators.

Anonymous said...

Sure they should...

Would they be asking for this?

Doubt it.

UN War Crimes Prosecutor Seeks Prison For Kosovo Albanian
THE HAGUE (AP)--A prosecutor at the U.N. war crimes tribunal Tuesday asked for a 20-year jail sentence for ethnic Albanian rebel leader Fatmir Limaj, who is accused of running a wartime camp in Kosovo where Serbian prisoners were tortured and killed in the late 1990s.

Prosecutor Alex Whiting Whiting also suggested an 18-year jail term for Haradin Bala and a 15-year sentence for Isak Musliu, both fellow Kosovo Albanians.

Whiting said Musliu commanded a unit at the Lapusnik war camp and had the power to order prisoners detained or released, while Bala was a guard at the camp who participated in beating and murders.

The case marks the first time the tribunal has tried ethnic Albanian rebels who operated as NATO's allies during Kosovo's 1998-99 conflict with Serbia. The majority of cases at the U.N. court have tried Serbs.



August 30, 2005 13:21 ET (17:21 GMT)

Anonymous said...

This is so sad, Serbs have nothing else to bring up except the only Albanian that is on trial. Let's not go into war crimes dear Serbs cause we all know who wins there ;)

As for this kid, this was a murder and clearly murder of an Albanian is not an issue, but "protecting" false Serb borders is.

Anonymous said...

I say, let's go to war. If we albanians lose we dont deserve to live in Kosova anyway. If we cant defend our own homes we are worthless and UNMIK is making us feel like that more and more everyday. Its not enough that they bring thieves and rapists to Kosova but also blame the whole Kosova for a murder that I am sure was committed by the serb secret police in Kosova.

Anonymous said...

Bring it on!!!

Anonymous said...

We didi bring it on bitch. You just went coward and even delivered Milo to the Hague. What a bunch of fucking cowards.

Anonymous said...

FUcking Cowards?

Look in the Mirror, We didnt hire the Nato Airforce to bomb you did we, would have mopped those KLA terroists in a matter of a month.

Anonymous said...

NATO will alsways help those who are on the right side.

Anonymous said...

You had the russians and the french we had USA and Britain. If you bitch now about NATO bombing your ass doesnt make you any less cowards. You lost and you even gave us Milo. Probably you would have even let us fuck your mothers just to stop our allies bombing you back to to stoneage.

Anonymous said...

ur allies??? hahaha yeah look who came to prishitna today. idiots, albos are western "allies" r u kidding me? dude just get ready for teh moment NATO leaves, who is going to protect ur sorry bitch ass'then??? u cry like the biggest pussy ever, the mometn NATO came i to help u (and agin not cause they like u, why would they anyway?) but becuae they wanted to weaken serbia (teh main military power in the balkans) always was and will be, get ur ass' ready, 1 on 1 u will get ur faces slapped so hard u will crawl back to the Azeri Albania from where u came from u fucking invaders.

Anonymous said...

we are already in Albania you fucking peace of bitches shit, and also you are sleeping now on our land but havent't got a God, cuz Sveti Sava was sent to Zoo, they thought he was MAD COW cuz everyone of you is asking help from him.

You'll never be better as you are today!

Anonymous said...

I think one year is very reasonable. This is just a young man doing his job (guarding a border). And then suddenly something happens and he gets nervous, doesn't know what to do and shoots. Of course this is a very unprofessional reaction but some people are rather clumsy. Anybody who has been in the army or in a guarding job will understand that.
There are quite a few places in the world where he would have gotten away without punishment at all. One year seems a fitting punishment to me.
For those people who think Albanian judges would do better: please explain why nobody got sentenced to jail for the mess in march 94 ...