Natasha Kandic’s Fund Makes Shkëlzen Gashi Land: Serbia Killed Civilians, Not Armed Men in Dubrava and Meje
Express newspaper
28/03/2026 13:59
The organization led by Natasha Kandić, which also has headquarters in Kosovo, has reacted to the exhibition held in Kosovo about the massacres that occurred during the years 1998-1999, writes Gazeta Express.
The press release states that the data in this exhibition in some cases presents an inaccurate picture and that this is not a matter of interpretation but a basic lack of knowledge of international humanitarian law, facts proven in court, and reading the data of the Humanitarian Law Center.
The statement specifically talks about the Dubrava Massacre, saying that no armed people were killed there as presented in Shklëzen Gashi’s exhibition, reports Gazeta Express.
“No ‘armed persons’ were killed in Dubrava Prison, as is stated on the exhibition board. Those killed were Albanian prisoners“. Some of them had been members of the KLA before their arrest, but at the time of the murder they were not fighters. They were persons deprived of their liberty and under the full control of the Serbian authorities, i.e. persons protected under the Geneva Conventions. Their previous status as members of the KLA is important for posthumous state recognition and for material reparations for the families, but not for determining the circumstances of death,” the statement said.
The statement states that there are other errors, therefore, Kandic’s organization says that the exhibition in its current form should be removed from public space.
“For these reasons, we consider that the exhibition, in its current form, should be removed from public space. At the same time, it is necessary to stop the arbitrary and unprofessional presentation of the crimes and the fate of the victims. The inaccurate presentation of the facts does not contribute to the culture of memory, but damages it, relativizes the crimes and seriously violates the dignity of the victims and their families,” the reaction states.
It is further stated that the same mistake was made in the case of the Meja Massacre.
“The same mistake was made in the Meja case. Among the killed were people who had previously been members of the KLA, but on April 27 they were separated from the columns of civilians, were unarmed, without uniforms and under the control of Serbian forces. In these circumstances they cannot be considered “armed persons”, but victims of war crimes.” The exhibition organizers also show a lack of knowledge of the facts proven in court regarding Recak. In the transcript of Slobodan Milošević’s trial, Shukri Buja stated that nine KLA members were killed in fighting on January 15, 1999, which is separate from the killing of civilians in Recak,” the reaction states.
Kandiq’s organization says that “It is particularly concerning that Shkëlzen Gashi is trying to shift responsibility for these errors to the Humanitarian Law Center. This constitutes an attempt to discredit the most reliable database on war victims in Kosovo. The HLC and HLPK database, which documents more than 8.500 Albanian civilian victims of war crimes, was assessed in an independent evaluation in 2015 as the most complete and reliable database of its kind. The evaluation was conducted by international experts, including Patrick Ball and British professor Michael Spagat,” the reaction emphasizes.
Also, Kandiq’s organization says that it should be recalled that Shkëlzen Gashi’s book also has major inaccuracies.
“It should also be recalled that two years ago the same authors published the book “Massacres in Kosovo”, which contains many inaccuracies and in many cases is not in line with the facts proven in court. The same pattern is now being repeated in this exhibition: inaccurate data, based on a lack of knowledge and without responsibility towards the victims”, the statement concludes. /Express/