On 26 March 1999, police officers of the Suharekë Police Department killed 53 Kosovo Albanian civilians in that town. Among those killed were 49 members of the Berisha family, including 23 children, one pregnant woman and a 100-year-old woman. The remains of 23 victims from Suharekë were found at Batajnica.
The family compound of the Berisha family consisted of several houses. Officers of the Suva Reka Police Department killed two men at the entrance to one of the houses, and surrounded the house, in which there were some 50 members of the extended Berisha family. The policemen then ordered the people in the house to come out and separated men from women and children.
The policemen killed seven men, took their bodies into one of the houses and set fire to the house. They ordered the others (mostly women, children and the elderly) to run to the shopping centre and the Calabria pizza restaurant. Another man and his eight-months-pregnant wife were killed near the shopping centre. The policemen locked the remaining civilians inside the pizzeria and threw a couple of hand grenades inside. After the blasts, they entered the pizzeria to kill those who were still alive.
In 2009-2010, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade convicted several policemen over the crime in Suharekë. They were sentenced as follows: Radojko Repanović and Slađan Čukarić each to 20 years in jail, Miroslav Petković to 15 years and Milorad Nišavić to 13 years.
|
nr. |
name |
last name |
father's name |
date of birth |
place of birth |
date of incident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AFRIM | BERISHA | MUSLI | 03.04.1974 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 2 | ARTA | BERISHA | HAMDI | 14.07.1981 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 3 | BESIM | BERISHA | VESEL | 01.01.1973 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 4 | DRILON | BERISHA | SEDAT | 20.02.1986 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 5 | FATIME | BERISHA | MALIQ | 03.09.1956 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 6 | FATMIRE | BERISHA | VESEL | 19.12.1975 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 7 | GENC | BERISHA | BESIM | 09.01.1995 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 8 | GRANIT | BERISHA | BESIM | 01.01.1996 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 9 | HAJDIN | BERISHA | VESEL | 23.08.1962 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 10 | HAMDI | BERISHA | SAHIT | 11.07.1946 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 11 | HANUMSHAHE | BERISHA | HAMDI | 28.12.1987 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 12 | HAVA | BERISHA | RAMADAN | 18.11.1930 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 13 | HEROLINDA | BERISHA | NEXHAT | 26.11.1985 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 14 | JASHAR | BERISHA | MELIT | 16.11.1943 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 15 | LIRIE | BERISHA | HAZIR | 21.02.1973 | Vlaški Drenovac/Llashkadrenoc, opština Mališevo/Malishevë | 3/26/99 |
| 16 | MAJLINDA | BERISHA | NEXHAT | 26.05.1983 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 17 | MIHRIJE | BERISHA | RAIF | 24.08.1973 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 18 | MUSLI | BERISHA | SAHIT | 15.01.1939 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 19 | NEXHMEDIN | BERISHA | VESEL | 19.08.1962 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 20 | REDON | BERISHA | NEXHAT | 23.05.1997 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 21 | SOFIJE | BERISHA | NEBIH | 20.05.1940 | Koriša/Korishë, opština Prizren | 3/26/99 |
| 22 | VESEL | BERISHA | SHABAN | 02.12.1937 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |
| 23 | ZANA | BERISHA | HAMDI | 11.05.1985 | Suva Reka/Suharrekë, opština Suva Reka/Suharrekë | 3/26/99 |