The court is hearing the case involving KLA war veteran Bekim Meta and his neighbor, Skendër Shahini.

The incident that led to these proceedings is suspected to have taken place three days earlier in the village of Magbure, Lipjan, where a group of people from the Roma community allegedly attacked Skendër Shahini near his home, as well as Bekim Meta, who had intervened to calm the situation.

Besim Jusufi, a KLA war veteran and one of the protesters, told KosovaPress that the clash is linked to a post-war case in which, according to him, Shahini had informed the police about weapons and ammunition that he claims were found in the home of a Roma family.

Jusufi: Bekim Meta became involved after intervening to protect his neighbor

“The protest, or support, is for veteran Bekim Meta, who was, so to speak, attacked by the other side. It wasn’t… Bekim’s neighbor was attacked, and Bekim initially intervened to separate them. But as time went on, he also became part of it. They are known… the police know and the residents of Magura know who the other side are. Two of them, according to the information available, were also dressed in uniforms during the time of former Serbia. They do not live in Magura; they live somewhere in Serbia, but they came in an organized way, around 22 or 23 of them took part in that action, when they first attacked Bekim Meta’s neighbor, Skender Shahini. According to the neighbor, that Skender, after the war he found some weapons in their house and quite a lot of ammunition, around 30 kg or something like that. And they told him not to report the case to the police or even to KFOR, saying they would give him money and things. But Skenda did not accept, and now after quite a long time, after several years, they came and attacked him. Supposedly because he took their property, but Skenda did not take their property; he is on his own property. They still have their property exactly as they left it,” Jusufi told KosovaPress.

Another protest participant, Ramë Bardhi, told KosovaPress that the detention of veteran Bekim Meta is unjust, adding that the attackers threatened him with the words: “We did nothing in ’98, what are we going to do now?”

Bardhi: We will not stop the protests until the liberator is released

“The main reason is to release the liberator. To release the liberator. There is absolutely no reason to keep the liberator in prison. For a criminal to come from Serbia and attack the liberator in Magura, this cannot be tolerated. This cannot be tolerated. They came and attacked the neighbor. This veteran, this liberator, only intervened to separate them. But when he stepped in there, they started taking advantage, and then the clash happened… We will not stop the protests. If the liberator is convicted, we will not stop the protests. Until he is released quickly. Until he is released quickly. We will not stop the protests. We will not stop,” he said.

War veteran Sejdi Dulla also said he had never imagined that veterans would face such situations so many years after the end of the war.

Dulla: The protests will not stop until Bekim Meta is released

“Yes, to tell you the truth, 30 years after the war we never imagined that criminals would come, that paramilitaries would come and attack us in our homes. Us war veterans, or us war invalids, to be attacked by people who wore Serbian paramilitary uniforms. First of all, I greet all these participants who have taken part in the protest, and I ask the court to release the veteran immediately, because we are in our own home, they were paramilitaries. Three of them were dressed like that. So for them to come and attack us is unjust. I don’t know what to say, I never believed that this day would come, that after all this time paramilitaries would come again and attack us in our homes,” Dulla said.

Arsim Jusufi, on the other hand, said the protesters expect the court to issue a fair ruling and warned that the protests would continue if Meta is not released.

Jusufi: Bekim Meta has made an extraordinary contribution to the country, we demand his release

“This is an organized show of support for a man who has made an extraordinary contribution, who even after 26 years still has three bullets in his head, in his brain, and they do not dare remove them, and he continues to suffer those consequences for liberating our country. The man was in his own home, they came three days earlier, provoked with drones and other things, and that led to the problem. Now we hope that the justice bodies, in this case the court, will issue the right verdict and that Bekim will be released and return to his home because he is very ill. We will continue, I believe we will talk with all fellow fighters and continue the peaceful protest until his release. A freedom fighter cannot be equated with people who wore uniforms. They should be punished for what they did in the ’90s-’99 and for all the problems they caused,” he said.

According to Arsim Jusufi, the case in Magbure, Lipjan, is not the only one, as he said similar provocations are also taking place in the village of Grac.

Jusufi: The same provocations are also happening in the village of Grac

“You have the same problem in Grac, in the village of Grac, where around two buses came, and last night they were provoking, using their separatist words, as you know, and this is a signal for the security bodies, in this case for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to deal with this properly and not leave this problem to the citizens, but to the institutions for the good of all,” he said.

The decision of the Lipjan court in the case involving Skendër Shahini and veteran Bekim Beka is expected to be made after the judicial procedure is completed.

The post Protest outside the Court in Lipjan for the release of veteran Bekim Meta: “Paramilitaries attacked us in our homes” appeared first on Albeu.com.