On this day in 1999, the Albanian boy Labinot Kastrati was killed in a war crime known as Kaluđerski Laz. He was killed by members of the then Yugoslav Army, along with five other civilians. He was only 13 years old. No one has ever been held accountable for this crime because the indictment was deliberately drafted so sloppily that even laypeople could immediately see that all the accused would be acquitted. A disgrace for the Montenegrin judiciary.
Transcribed:
“Murder Escape in Kaludjerski Laz. Labinot (Bek) Krasniqi
Labinot Krasniqi was born on May 2, 1985, in Naberđan, near Peć. His father is Bekë and his mother is Nurië Dreshaj-Krasniqi. He was the youngest of six siblings. The family lived in a house in the village of Beke (Sokolovo) near Kaludjerski Laz. The critical day was the one when Serbian-Montenegrin army forces arrived at the column of refugees. One of the soldiers shot and killed Labinot and his mother.
According to the testimony of an eyewitness, the bullet hit him in the chest and he was seriously wounded. Hajhi Mehmeti, one of the heavily wounded survivors, said in his own words in the video about the murdered Labinot: “They shot at a child and a woman near one garage. That child was carried in blankets and is still moaning from the pain of the severe wound.” This was followed by testimony from other witnesses who described the events after the arrival of the Yugoslav army forces.
Hajhi: “The soldiers came and ordered us to get off the tractor with the stone marker of the FAP brand, the invading army entered and started shooting at the civilian population. Then one of their comrades forcibly took Labinot from Kaludjerski Laz, and he did not allow his mother to take her own son. He left him to the mercy of God in the village of Lendin, Aferdita, Leonora, Shkurta, Elvira and Veku. Nacon’s six-year-old sister Labinot also died, as did many others from the village.”
His birth was not only marked by the joy of his parents and his six sisters, but the entire Albanian population of the Rožaje region. He stayed alive until the massacre in Kaludjerski Laz, after which he and his entire family were killed in the village of Beke (Sokolovo). Before the testimony, a grave was dug for the murdered child in the village cemetery.
According to the testimony of one of the survivors, the commander of the Pejë Municipal Commune, Smajo Agović from Vitomerica near Peja, was also present. The date, 27. 07. 1999, marks the repeated burial of the victims on the Peć plateau near Naberđan.
Izjava Hysena Kastratija, zapisana od strane autora 05.05.2005.”
References
Daci, Ali. Krvave staze. Prishtina: Ars Poetika, 2009.
The testimony is from Hysen Kastrati, recorded by the author on May 5, 2005.
Human Rights Action (HRA). “26 Years Since the Crime in Kaluđerski Laz: Without Justice and a Memorial.” April 17, 2025. https://www.hraction.org/2025/04/17/26-years-since-the-crime-in-kaluderski-laz-without-justice-and-a-memorial/.
“Montenegrin President Asks for Justice for 1999 Killings of Kosovo Albanians.” Balkan Insight, April 18, 2024. https://balkaninsight.com/2024/04/18/montenegrin-president-asks-for-justice-for-1999-killings-of-kosovo-albanians/.
“Kaludjerski Laz Massacre Still Haunts Montenegro.” Balkan Insight, December 10, 2007. https://balkaninsight.com/2007/12/10/kaludjerski-laz-massacre-still-haunts-montenegro/.
“Montenegro Prosecutor’s Office Reopens Four War Crimes Cases.” Balkan Insight, February 4, 2025. https://balkaninsight.com/2025/02/04/montenegro-prosecutors-office-reopens-four-war-crimes-cases/.
