Peć

Kosovo Olympic gold medalist Majlinda Kelmendi on Friday attended the unveiling of a bronze statue of herself in judo kit in her hometown of Peje, about 50 miles west of the capital Pristina.

The 30-year-old judoka made history in the Rio 2016 Olympics when she became the first athlete from Kosovo to bring home a gold in the country's first-ever Olympic participation.

Haxhi Balaj remembers that it was sunny on May 5, 1999, and that his mother Shehrije was trying to find something for lunch for the family.

They had run out of flour, among the many other things they were missing in those difficult days during the Kosovo war.

Beneath a picture of Begolli performing Macbeth, Alba spoke of the legendary Albanian actor as a gentle, sensitive father who enjoyed life to the full.

"Dad was an amazing parent with whom I had a very friendly and sincere connection," Alba said.

Hajrije and Faton Demaku, two ethnic Albanian civilians from the village of Zahac/Zahaq in Kosovo, told Belgrade Higher Court on Thursday how Esma Demaku was taken away by two men after members of Serbian forces made them leave their houses during an attack in May 1999.

The soft rays of the morning sun fall upon her pale hands as they rest on the stack of papers on the table. She does not raise her eyes as she looks down at the documents in front of her.

She may have reached the grand age of 74, but musical virtuoso Pranvera Badivuku - only the second Kosovo Albanian woman to become a composer in Kosovo - is still full of ideas.

Lendita Morina with her father. Photo courtesy of Lendita Morina.

The bodies of 34 victims from Ljubenic were later found in a mass grave in Batajnica, near the Serbian capital Belgrade, and several others at a Serbian police compound in Petrovo Selo, while the rest were found in unmarked graves in Kosovo.

The judge reads the acquittal decision in Zajic's case on Friday in Peja/Pec. Photo: BIRN.

Zajic was found not guilty of taking part in the killing of two people - one with disabilities - and of forcing ethnic Albanians out of a village in 1998 during the war in Kosovo.

The judges said the reason for the acquittal was the witnesses' "contradictory" testimonies.

Kosovo citizens protesting against the Hydro Power Plant in Lumbardhi/ Bistrica River, Peja/Pec. Photo: BIRN

The decision came after thousands of citizens, environmentalists and civil society members protested on Monday in Peja/Pec, claiming the project will damage the river that passes through the Rugova national park.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said that the perpetrators of the massacres of 138 Kosovo Albanian civilians in three villages in the Peja/Pec area in May 1999 must be brought to justice.