Saranda Bogujevci had 8 members of her family killed by the Serbian troops in the Massacre of Podujevo and she survived with 16 bullets in her body.

According to Goran Stoparić, a policeman belonging to the Scorpions, the Scorpions were sent to the town of Podujevo on 28 March 1999 to take over land controlled by the Kosovo Liberation Army. Their unit commander had told them to find lodging in local houses.

The unit had orders to kill all the ethnic Albanians living in the town. Saranda Bogujevi, a survivor of the massacre, said that when a police vehicle parked outside of her family’s house, they ran into a neighbour’s backyard. The police searched their house, and ordered them to ‘come out with their hands in the air’ after they were discovered.

They searched the family and took them out to the street, where many soldiers in different uniforms were waiting, and someone suddenly started firing their gun. The soldiers took the group behind the house and began shooting indiscriminately.

Out of the group of 19, 14 people were killed – seven women and seven children aged between two and fifteen – and five people, all children, survived. Bogujevi, who was 13 at the time of the massacre, was shot in her torso, legs, and arms. Her arm was hit 13 times, and she now has limited movement in that arm. Her mother, two brothers, and some other relatives of hers all died in the massacre.

She said that she saw a soldier force her aunt on to the ground and he shot her.

Stoparić said that Saša Cvjetan, another member of the Scorpions, lead a group of women and children into the backyard of a house, and he heard ‘four to five bursts of automatic gunfire’. Stoparić overheard another soldier, known only as ‘Vuk’, telling a colleague that everyone in the group of civilians was killed.

Albanians massacred:

Those killed in the massacre: Sheptim Bogujevci (aged 10), Shpend Bogujevci (aged 13), Sala Bogujevci (aged 39), Nora Bogujevci (aged 15), Shefkate Bogujevci (aged 43), Shehide Bogujevci (aged 67), Nefise Bogujevci Llugaliu (aged 54), Fezdrije Llugialiu (aged 21), Dafina Durići (aged 9), Arbër Durići (aged 7), Mimoza Durići (aged 4), Albin Durići (aged 2), Fitnete Durići (aged 36), and Isma Durići (aged 69).

Sources

 “Razgovor sa Sarandom i Seljatinom Bogujevci, izložba “MSKJ:Slučaj Kosovo 1998-1999″”. Centre for Cultural Decontamination (in Serbian). 26 March 2018.

“Danas je 23 godine od masakra u Podujevu kada su “Škorpioni” ubili 14 albanskih civila”. Danas (in Serbian). 28 March 2022.

“Of Crimes and Courage”. CBC. 29 March 2004. Wood, Nicholas (11 December 2003). “Serb Policeman Describes Massacre in Kosovo”. The New York Times. p. 10.

“Podujevo massacre survivor testifies”. B92. 23 December 2008.

Knezevic, Gordana (16 May 2018). “Crime, Punishment, And Collective Memory In Serbia”. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Marshall, Tim (11 July 2003). “Girl tells court how Serbs killed 19 of her family in a day”. The Independent.