{"id":179321,"date":"2025-06-05T11:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T09:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=179321"},"modified":"2025-06-05T11:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T09:45:08","slug":"never-from-kosovo-eternally-in-kosovo-21-years-ago-17-year-old-dimitrije-popovic-was-killed-in-gracanica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/never-from-kosovo-eternally-in-kosovo-21-years-ago-17-year-old-dimitrije-popovic-was-killed-in-gracanica\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;NEVER FROM KOSOVO, ETERNALLY IN KOSOVO&#8221;: 21 Years Ago, 17-Year-Old Dimitrije Popovi\u0107 Was Killed in Gra\u010danica!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Dimitrije Popovi\u0107 (17) was killed in Gra\u010danica on June 5, 2004. Albert Krasniqi and Labinot Gashi from Pristina were accused of the murder. Krasniqi, who was still a minor at the time, was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, while Gashi was acquitted. In 2021, Krasniqi was killed by his father after a family dispute.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dimitrije Popovi\u0107 was from a family that has produced priests, teachers, and writers for almost two centuries. A small chapel, modeled after the Gra\u010danica monastery, was built in the very center of Gra\u010danica. It is dedicated to Saint Great Martyr Demetrius, as a memorial to the suffering of this boy, wrote journalist \u017divojin Rako\u010devi\u0107 for Politika.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On that June 5, 21 years ago, Dimitrije was killed in front of the fast-food kiosk &#8220;Pera \u017ddera&#8221; in Gra\u010danica, next to the Gnjilane\u2013Pristina road. He was killed by a single gunshot to the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As his brother, Sr\u0111an Popovi\u0107, stated at last year&#8217;s memorial in Gra\u010danica, Dimitrije&#8217;s murder followed the crime of March 17, 2004, after the international community did not listen to the locals and remove two checkpoints at the beginning and end of Gra\u010danica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;No matter how much we thought that after every crime, and there were many until that March 17, 2004, when we thought it would stop, it always continued. I remember, as if it were now, that after March 17, two checkpoints were set up at the beginning and end of Gra\u010danica, and there were many meetings about those checkpoints not being removed because the situation was not good, and the locals were afraid. However, the international community did not listen to us, the checkpoints were removed, and a few days later Dimitrije died. This speaks to the current situation; no matter how much we warn about certain things, no one wants to understand us. We only hope that there will be no more victims,&#8221; said Sr\u0111an Popovi\u0107, now the Head of the Kosovo District.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dve decenije od stradanja Dimitrija Popovi\u0107a: Vreme ne le\u010di rane\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1NNeX7OqO_4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Dimitrije&#8217;s uncle, writer Ratko Popovi\u0107, previously noted that in his nephew&#8217;s diary, which they found immediately after the murder, they found a message that surprised them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;&#8216;Never from Kosovo \u2013 eternally in Kosovo,&#8217; was written in this boy&#8217;s diary. &#8220;I don&#8217;t believe he wrote it consciously, but it seems like divine providence, that he eternally endures and lives with us here near the\u010danica monastery,&#8221; Ratko Popovi\u0107 said then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1999, the Popovi\u0107 family was expelled from Pristina and moved to live in Gra\u010danica, their place of origin. His Albanian peers from Pristina, Rako\u010devi\u0107 wrote, made a plan for a showdown. According to one version of the tragedy, young men in Pristina made a bet that they would go to Gra\u010danica and kill a Serb. Albert Krasniqi and Labinot Gashi were accused of the crime. Krasniqi was a minor and was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, while Gashi was acquitted. Krasniqi was killed by his father in 2021 after family disagreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dimitrije&#8217;s mother, Jorgovanka, stated at last year&#8217;s memorial that every year, before the anniversary of the murder, Albanians come to her and ask her to sell her house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The house is not for sale, I am not leaving here, nor is my family\u2026 I told them that my Dimitrije is not leaving Gra\u010danica,&#8221; was Jorgovanka Popovi\u0107&#8217;s message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In memory of the deceased Dimitrije, an art award has been established within the Vidovdan Art Colony and bears his name. A football tournament under the slogan &#8220;Let&#8217;s play for the future, remember Dimitrije&#8221; is also traditionally held in Gra\u010danica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/minister-of-education-issues-a-threat-faculties-that-dont-make-up-classes-wont-get-quotas-for-enrolling-new-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MINISTER OF EDUCATION ISSUES A THREAT: Faculties that don\u2019t make up classes won\u2019t get quotas for enrolling new students!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/trump-imposes-new-rules-travel-ban-to-usa-for-tourists-from-12-countries-7-more-under-restrictions-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">TRUMP IMPOSES NEW RULES: Travel ban to USA for tourists from 12 countries, 7 more under restrictions! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/vucic-speaks-out-on-the-incident-in-studentski-grad-prosecutors-office-demands-urgent-investigation-into-attack-on-milos-pavlovic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VU\u010cI\u0106 SPEAKS OUT ON THE INCIDENT IN STUDENTSKI GRAD: Prosecutor\u2019s office demands urgent Investigation into attack on Milo\u0161 Pavlovi\u0107!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/horror-in-halkidiki-serbian-woman-73-pulled-unconscious-from-the-sea-attempts-to-revive-her-unsuccessful\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">HORROR IN HALKIDIKI: Serbian woman (73) pulled unconscious from the sea, attempts to revive her unsuccessful!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/caci-is-not-welcome-milos-pavlovic-sat-in-a-cafe-in-studentski-grad-students-showered-him-with-insults-and-beer-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201c\u0106ACI\u201d IS NOT WELCOME: Milo\u0161 Pavlovi\u0107 sat in a cafe in Studentski grad, students showered him with insults and beer! (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: Danas; <strong>Photo<\/strong>: Printscreen YouTube \/ RTV KIM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dimitrije Popovi\u0107 (17) was killed in Gra\u010danica on June 5, 2004. Albert Krasniqi and Labinot Gashi from Pristina were accused of the murder. Krasniqi, who was still a minor at the time, was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison, while Gashi was acquitted. In 2021, Krasniqi was killed by his father after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":179322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1025,6913,108,109,3269,3677,113,4186,115],"class_list":["post-179321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-deca","tag-dimitrije-popovic","tag-kosovo","tag-kosovo-i-metohija","tag-srbi-i-albanci","tag-srbi-na-kosovu","tag-srbija","tag-tinejdzeri-2","tag-ubistvo","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179323,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179321\/revisions\/179323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}