Agim Bahtiri: Excavations in Zubin Potok bring hope for clarifying the fate of the Mitrovica Intellectuals Group

Former Mitrovica mayor Agim Bahtiri has reacted after the discovery of a new location in Kalludër, Zubin Potok, where excavations are underway for a mass grave. According to him, this development revives hope for clarifying the fate of persons who disappeared during the war in Kosovo.

Bahtiri stressed that the excavations could provide answers especially for the “Mitrovica Intellectuals Group,” who were abducted on April 19, 1999, by Serbian military and police forces in the Dreth area as they tried to leave for Montenegro.

“Since that day, their families have lived between pain and waiting,” he wrote, then listing the names of the missing: Dr. Adem Ademi, Dr. Idriz Rreci, Prof. Demir Ahmeti, Dr. Fatmir Fazliu, Adem Beqiri, Sahit Berani, Hasan Dervari, Ali Haliti, Shaip, Faton, Mahit, Nazim and Shkëlzen Ujkani, as well as Tahir, Sali, Naser, Zymer, Selim, Shaqir, Samir, Bekim, Xhevdet and Xhemail Meziu.

In his full post, Bahtiri expressed strong support for the continuation of excavations and all initiatives aimed at clarifying the fate of this group and every other person forcibly disappeared during the war. He added that the families demand the truth and that it is a shared duty not to stop until the last missing person is found and justice is served. The post ends with tributes to those who sacrificed themselves for Kosovo’s freedom.