1998 Panda Bar massacre

14 December 1998 attack in Kosovo Panda Bar massacre Peć, Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia Serbian civilians 14 December 1998 UTC+1 6 15 Unknown Automatic rifles The Panda Bar massacreLandis Albert 2012 356, Aertsen et al. 2013 83 (sr Масакр у Панда Бару Masakr u Panda Baru), alternatively known as the Panda Café attack (sr Напад на кафић "Панда" Napad na kafić "Panda"),NIN: nedeljne informativne novine 2931–2939 https://books.google.com/books?id=cSwUAQAAMAAJ March 2007 Politika was an attack on Serbian civilians in the city of Peć, Kosovo, on the night of 14–15 December 1998. Two masked men opened fire into a coffeehouse,Aertsen et al. 2013 83 killing six Serb youths and wounding 15 others.Holbrooke and HillKosovo: the road to war https://web.archive.org/web/20081020065032/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/pbrooke/p%26t/Balkans/dmonkosovo/200010 October 20, 2008 The attack came at a time of heightened tensions due to an orchestrated ambush by the Serbian police against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who were smuggling weapons and supplies from Albania.Bellamy 2002 112 The Panda Bar attack appeared as a reprisal,Bellamy 2002 112 and broke the brief cease-fire between the Albanian and Serbian forces during the Kosovo War.Landis Albert 2012 356 The KLA was accused, but did not accept responsibility at the time.Bellamy 2002 112 Six Albanian young men were arrested and tortured in custody at the time, but acquitted in the trial. However, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated in 2013 that there was no evidence that Albanians were responsible for this attack. Speculation that the crime may have been committed by the State Security Directorate had been put forward in the past, but the crime remained unsolved as no new evidence had come forward for a long time.Rudic Filip Haxhiaj Rexhepe Kosovo's Panda Café Massacre Mystery Unsolved 20 Years On https://balkaninsight.com/2018/12/14/kosovo-s-panda-caf%C3%A9-massacre-mystery-unsolved-20-years-on-12-13-2018/ 2018 Among Kosovo Albanians, the Panda Bar massacre is considered to have been used as a pretext for the attacks of the Serbian army and police against Albanian villages. Timeline The attack on the Panda Bar came within hours of a border ambush in which at least 31 fighters from the KLA were killed by Serbian troops.BBC Serb murder in Kosovo condemned https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/238155.stm December 18, 1998 December 30, 2015 That evening, suspected and alleged KLA gunmen entered a Serb-owned café in Peja and opened fire on the patrons, killing six Serb youths.Judah 2002 191 The victims were a 14-year-old, a 16-year-old, three 17-year-olds and one 25-year-old.b Western diplomats suspected that the attack was carried out by the KLA in retribution for the ambush.Chicago Tribune Kosovo Cease-fire Is Jeopardized By Killing Of 30 Rebels Guy Dinmore https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/12/15/kosovo-cease-fire-is-jeopardized-by-killing-of-30-rebels/ December 15, 1998 August 9, 2015 The KLA denied responsibility; journalist Tim Judah noted that some of the diplomats thought the attack might have been carried out by a rogue unit.Judah 2002 192 The shooting appalled foreign emissaries, and at a meeting with Milošević the following day, Holbrooke condemned it as an act of terrorism and described the situation in Kosovo as "very grave".1998-12-16 World: Europe Grave differences over Kosovo https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/235956.stm 2024-02-26 BBC Milošević issued a separate statement accusing the international community of failing to prevent attacks on Serb civilians, stating: "The terrorist gangs have not ceased attacking the army, the police, and inhabitants of Kosovo." Nikola Šainović, in an interview with BBC, stated:2023-09-06 Slučaj Panda i Kosovo: Četvrt veka ćutanja o ubistvu šest mladića u Peći https://www.021.rs/story/BBC/352002/Slucaj-Panda-i-Kosovo-Cetvrt-veka-cutanja-o-ubistvu-sest-mladica-u-Peci.html 2024-03-12 www.021.rs sr "We blocked Peć and started the search. Our first reaction was that the crime in Panda was the revenge of the KLA for the ambush the day before, during the attempt to penetrate the border through Albania, when nine KLA members were captured and 35 were killed, which was their biggest single loss in 1998. The police, on the basis of assessments and intelligence data, who might have a connection with the KLA, began house searches and, when I arrived, I was told that several people had already been detained, that some weapons had been found, that these people were not currently in to some KLA formation, but to interrogate them.." Nikola Šainović in an interview with BBC The attack led to an immediate crackdown on the Albanian-populated southern quarter of Peja in Kapešnica and Zatra.http://www.osce.org/item/17755.html Human Rights in Kosovo: As Seen, As Told, 1999 OSCE report OSCE dead https://web.archive.org/web/20141015225522/http://www.osce.org/item/17755.html 2014-10-15 The areas were sealed off, and houses were searched systematically. Media reports stated that Serbian police killed two Kosovo Albanians during the operation. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) later made a report on the event and its aftermath, calling it the Panda Bar incident.OSCE report OSCE http://www.osce.org/publications/odihr/1999/11/17755_512_en.pdf dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101114133114/http://www.osce.org/publications/odihr/1999/11/17755_512_en.pdf 2010-11-14 Six young Albanian men between the ages of 17 and 22 were arrested in the aftermath of the event. They were tortured and one of them confessed to the murder under torture. In the trial they were acquitted as no evidence existed about their involvement. They were convicted to one year in prison each for breaching public order, but were released a month later.http://www.kohavision.net/video/lajmet/7178/ KTV Lajmet KTV 22 January 2014 22 January 2014 https://archive.today/20140122221755/http://www.kohavision.net/video/lajmet/7178/ 22 January 2014 dead Since then, one of them has developed mental health problems which have deteriorated over time. Another one went to become a finance officer at the municipality of Peja. Investigation thumb|207x207px|Vučić is the first Serbian official to dispute that the KLA (Albanians in general) carried out the massacre An investigation was started in 2011,Novosti; Tanjug; Blic with the grave stones of the victims being destroyed.Politika 13 December 2008 In December 2013, the then First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić acknowledged that there is no evidence that murder was committed by Albanians.State killed journalist, says deputy PM https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2013&mm=12&dd=30&nav_id=88815 B92 2013 The Serbian Organised Crime Prosecutor's Office launched a new investigation in 2016 and reached the conclusion that the massacre was not perpetrated by Albanians. Speculation that the crime may have been committed by the Serbian state security services had been put forward in the past, but the crime remained unsolved as no new evidence had come forward for a long time. See also War crimes in the Kosovo War 2004 unrest in Kosovo False flag Annotations upper-alpha b The victims were Ivan Obadović (14 years old), Vukota Gvozdenović (16), Svetislav Ristić (17), Zoran Stanojević (17), Dragan Trifović (17) and university student Ivan Radević (25).Politika 13 December 2008 Gvozdenović, Ristić, Stanojević and Trifović were highly graded students of the Sveti Sava gymnasium in Peć.Novosti; Tanjug; Blic The father of Radević was a half year later kidnapped and murdered by Albanians.Novosti; Tanjug; Blic References Sources Books Bellamy A. Kosovo and International Society https://books.google.com/books?id=avxZCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 2002 Palgrave Macmillan 978-0-230-59760-0 Judah Tim Tim Judah Kosovo: War and Revenge https://books.google.com/books?id=sVf1na3FN_UC 2002 Yale University Press New Haven and London 978-0-30009-725-2 Landis Dan Albert Rosita D. Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives https://books.google.com/books?id=5EFihegRpmkC&pg=PA356 2012 Springer Science & Business Media 978-1-4614-0447-7 356– Ivo Aertsen Jana Arsovska Holger-C Rohne Marta Valiñas Kris Vanspauwen Restoring Justice after Large-scale Violent Conflicts https://books.google.com/books?id=MMxZIG-03Z0C&pg=PA83 2013 Routledge 978-1-134-00623-6 83– Aertsen et al. 2013 Newspaper articles Politika Десет година од убиства српских младића у Пећи 13 December 2008 Politika https://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/67090/Deset-godina-od-ubistva-srpskih-mladica-u-Peci Politika 13 December 2008 RTS Годишњица убиства српских младића у Пећи 14 December 2015 RTS https://www.rts.rs/page/stories/ci/story/124/%D0%94%D1%80%D1%83%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE/2138506/%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%88%D1%9A%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0+%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B0+%D1%81%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%85+%D0%BC%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%9B%D0%B0+%D1%83+%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%9B%D0%B8.html RTS 14 December 2015 Novosti Tanjug Blic ISTINA SE KRIJE 19 GODINA Kobne noći dvojica maskiranih muškaraca ušli su u kafe "Panda" i izrešetali rafalima šestoricu SRPSKIH MLADIĆA Blic https://www.blic.rs/vesti/hronika/istina-se-krije-19-godina-kobne-noci-dvojica-maskiranih-muskaraca-usli-su-u-kafe/q5315be Novosti; Tanjug; Blic External links Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Ambassador Christopher Hill, Round-table discussion with representatives of the Serbian independent media, Belgrade, Serbia, December 15, 1998 Mount Holyoke College International Relations Program Massachusetts http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/holhill2.htm Holbrooke and Hill February 11, 2010 January 21, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140121205459/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/holhill2.htm dead Kosovo Category:1998 crimes in Kosovo Category:1998 mass shootings in Europe Category:1998 murders in Europe Category:20th-century mass murders in Europe Category:Attacks on bars in Europe Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 1998 Category:Conspiracy theories in Serbia Category:December 1998 crimes Category:December 1998 in Europe Category:Kosovo Liberation Army * Category:Massacres in 1998 Category:Mass shootings in Kosovo Category:Massacres in the Kosovo War Category:Massacres of Serbs Category:Attacks on coffeehouses and cafés in Europe Category:Peja Category:Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1998 Category:Terrorist incidents in Serbia Category:Massacres in Kosovo Category:False flag operations Category:False flag conspiracy theories