Petrit Latifi
In 1928, a Croatian political party published a letter from the teacher Boshko Jugovic who was arrested by Serb authorities in Gjilan in 1928. He was tortured and abused on the orders of Serbian politicians for having criticized Serb criminal Toma Popovic war crimes against Albanians and the oppression of Macedonians.
Hr: Godine 1928. hrvatska politička stranka objavila je pismo učitelja Boška Jugovića kojeg su srpske vlasti uhitile u Gnjilanu 1928. godine. Mučen je i zlostavljan po nalogu srpskih političara jer je kritizirao ratne zločine protiv Albanaca i ugnjetavanje Makedonaca, odnosno srpske kriminalce Tomu Popovića.
Cited:
“Where terror reigns.
The official organ of the Croatian Peasant Party, “Narodni Bal,” published a letter from teacher Boschko Jugovitsch, which we reproduce here in part: I live in Gjilan in the Kosova district. One day I was arrested without any warrant. The gendarmes took me to a better cell, i.e., to a horrible dungeon dating back to the time of Abdul Hamid, full of filth and stench. I could hardly breathe.
All kinds of insects crawled on the floor and walls, which had never been whitewashed. Half-stabbed, in desperation I slammed my fist on the window. Some fresh air seeped in from the yard, even though it was full of stench. Immediately the guard and two gendarmes rushed over. They put sandals on my feet, put chains on my feet, and then tied a belt across my chest.
So they hung me from the iron bars of a window grille. I remained in this position until morning. When I protested while being tied up, one of the beasts shouted at me: “We should beat you, but then the doctor will examine the marks and we’ll be held accountable. But we’ll do it this way. You’ll soon see what state authority means.”
District Captain Nedic, war criminal Deputy Toma Popovic and assassin Puniša Račić
“All this happened on the orders of District Captain Neditsch, following the instructions of Deputy Toma Popovich, a friend of Skupshtina’s assassin, Punisa Radschitsch. What was the reason?
I had dared to protest in the Belgrade republican newspaper “Republika” against the harassment and oppression of the Macedonian people by the radical pashas and expressed my outrage against the criminal Toma Popovic, who scorched and burned through the region of Kosova (Amfelfeld) and filled the land with the graves of innocent Albanians, Turks, and those Serbs who did not want to vote for him.
That’s how they treated me. But what do they do with the unfortunate peasants who languish innocently in prison by the thousands? The central prison in Skopje is overcrowded. The prisoners in Gjilan receive no food at all. They are mistreated, they starve, they sleep on bricks. I saw all this with my own eyes.”
Reference
Balkan Academia 