PRIEST BOBAN FROM BUJANOVAC: Three Albanians harassed us, banged on the windows, urinated in front of the church, chanted “UÇK”!

Boban Ilić, a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) in Bujanovac, described in detail to Bujanovačke the attack to which he and his family were subjected on Wednesday evening in front of the parish house where they live, in the center of Bujanovac. Father Boban says that his family was targeted by three Albanian youths for almost 45 minutes. “They chanted UÇK, Allahu Akbar, waved an Albanian flag, banged on the windows and urinated on the doorstep of the parish house,” the priest says. He believes that the attack on him and the parish house was not accidental, but that the perpetrators knew exactly what they were doing and whom they were attacking.

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Ilić says that when the youths arrived (around 10:30 p.m.), he was in the house with his wife and grandchildren. His wife went down into the yard to collect the laundry and clean the hall where meetings of the church council are held. That day, he says, a meeting was held at the parish house regarding the construction of a new church near the parish house, which was also attended by Bishop Pahomije.

“They arrived by car and parked right in front of the entrance. They played Albanian music loudly. At first, my wife did not realize that something serious was happening; she thought the music was coming from the street,” Ilić says.

According to him, she then moved behind the gate and watched them, while he was in a room with his grandchildren.

“They took out a flag and waved it in front of the house, banged on the window of the hall where we hold meetings, and then all three of them urinated in front of the entrance, right on the doorstep, after which they left,” Ilić says.

When he came downstairs, his wife showed him what had happened.

“We started cleaning. We were considering whether to call the police, so as not to provoke some bigger incident,” he says.

However, according to his account, the youths soon returned.

“They came back again. Music at full volume. Twice they came to the nearby parking lot, revved the car and drifted, as they say. They were driving a black Audi, the windows were open, and the music was loud,” Ilić says.

According to him, they returned a third time, again playing loud music and shouting UÇK and “Allahu Akbar,” while making gestures.

“That’s when I called the police, because it was better to call the police than wait for them to do something else. I didn’t know what they had in mind next,” Ilić says.

He says everything lasted around 45 minutes, until the police arrived. He adds that he and his wife were very shaken after the incident, particularly because of the youths’ manner of driving.

“We were afraid that, God forbid, they might hurt someone with the car. I am not afraid of anyone, only the Lord, but this was wild behavior, completely unprovoked,” he says.

According to him, the police confirmed that two of the suspects were arrested that same evening. He adds that after giving a statement to the police, he was informed that the investigation was ongoing.

Ilić emphasized that he does not want to generalize and that among members of all communities there are people with bad intentions who must be stopped.

“It was terrible. In my opinion, they came here deliberately,” Ilić said.

Bujanovačke is still awaiting a response from the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Vranje regarding this incident.