Two Serbian cemeteries desecrated in Kosovo

OBILIC - A Serbian Orthodox cemetery near Obilic and a cemetery just outside Gnjilane, southern Kosovo, have been desecrated over the past few days by unknown perpetrators.

Tombstones in the cemetery in Krusevac, a village near Obilic, have been knocked over and burned, the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren of the Serbian Orthodox Church has said in a statement.

The eparchy vehemently condemned the incidents, deploring the continuing desecration of Serbian Orthodox cemeteries in Kosovo-Metohija.

The Orthodox cemetery in the Donji Livoc village, situated just outside Gnjilane, has also been desecrated as unknown perpetrators desecrated and dug up the grave of Gradimir Milosavljevic, who was buried in 1998, RTV Plus has reported.

All tombstones in the cemetery were knocked over in 1999 after the arrival of international forces in Kosovo-Metohija, and the cemetery is completely abandoned and covered in weeds.

Ismet Hasani, a Kosovo police spokesperson for the Gnjilane region, said that the police are aware of the case and that an investigation has been launched in cooperation with the public prosecutor, RTV Plus reported.

Fifteen Serb families, with a total of about a hundred members, lived in Donji Livoc - now an Albanian-only village - until 1999.

All houses owned by Serbs have been demolished, but no one has as yet been called to account for the crime, RTV Plus reported.

Photo Tanjug, N. Milosevic (archive)