The fact that Vucic tries to stage the trial in question, but first of all the fact that the Presidents of the USA, Clinton, Bush and now Obama, through their deputies and Secretaries of State, have insisted and insist directly on the finding and trial of Serbian killers – it shows that Belgrade will never be able to cross this barrier, which in the clearest way shows the Albanian-American ties.
Regarding these and especially the engagement of the Atlantic Brigade, there is a book by Uk Lushi about the Atlantic Brigade, for which Ismail Kadare has concluded that it is one of the most sublime documents of the war for the Liberation of Kosovo. In Uk Lushi’s book (first published by several publishing houses in Pristina and Tirana), one of the main chapters is the life, war and death of the Bytyçi brothers.
We saw Ylli, Agron and Mehmet Bytyçi for the first time on April 8, 1999, in the parking lot of the “Il Galleto” restaurant in New Jersey. That day they had come there to become soldiers of the “Atlantic”. After the gathering, the people responsible for the “Hometown Calls” fund informed us that the formal ceremony for the baptism of the Battalion would be held on April 11 in Yonkers, and we had left the restaurant hall in groups to go to our homes.
It was dark outside. The neon lamps on the poles gave off a melancholic fringe of light that completely matched our emotional state. Most of the people left the restaurant, silent and gloomy, waiting for the cars to come and pick them up. I went out with Grandpa and Vito. The latter ran to get the car he had parked behind the restaurant.
While Grandfather and I were waiting for Vito, a group of men began to shout loudly. I met Ylli, Agron and Mehmet, all three brothers to each other. They were debating about the rule established regarding membership in the KLA. Others tried to convince the three Bytyçi brothers that the KLA did not recruit more than one member per family. But the brothers did not obey. Thus, they joined the “Atlantic” Battalion and fought bravely until the complete liberation of Kosovo.
In June 1999, the war was over. Ylli, Agroni and Mehmeti, together with us “Atlantic” soldiers, with the Kosovar Albanians and with NATO forces, marched towards Pristina. The SHP of the KLA announced the general demobilization. Homesick, we decided to enjoy the freedom for a few weeks before returning to our second country, the USA. This is what Ylli, Agroni and Mehmeti did, who, as soon as they were released from serving in the KLA, traveled to Prizren, where they joined a part of the family, which was hiding in Kosovo during the war.
The Bytyçi brothers were born in Chicago, in the state of Illinois, in the 70s, after the patriarch of this family, Ahmeti, forced by Yugoslav violence, moved from Prizren and settled in Chicago. In 1979, a part of the family consisting of Ylli, Agroni, Mehmeti, mother Bahrija and the other two children had returned to Kosovo to take care of Ahmet’s parents.
Fourteen years later, in 1993, leaving behind the mother and three children, Iliri (the elder brother of the family), Ylli, Agroni and Mehmeti had returned to Chicago again. After a few years they moved from there and settled in Long Island, New York.
When the Kosovo war broke out, the family was scattered around the world. The mother with two children had remained in Prizren. A brother, who also joined the KLA, had found refuge in Germany, while Ahmeti and his four sons were in America, after having accompanied the sons, Ylli, Agron and Mehmet, together with the “Atlantic” Battalion, to the lines of the front in the Kosovo war.
The Bytyçi brothers were born in Chicago, in the state of Illinois, in the 70s, after the patriarch of this family, Ahmeti, forced by Yugoslav violence, moved from Prizren and settled in Chicago. In 1979, a part of the family consisting of Ylli, Agroni, Mehmeti, mother Bahrija and the other two children had returned to Kosovo to take care of Ahmet’s parents.
Fourteen years later, in 1993, leaving behind the mother and three children, Iliri (the elder brother of the family), Ylli, Agroni and Mehmeti had returned to Chicago again. After a few years they moved from there and settled in Long Island, New York.
When the Kosovo war broke out, the family was scattered around the world. The mother with two children had remained in Prizren. A brother, who also joined the KLA, had found refuge in Germany, while Ahmeti and his four sons were in America, after having accompanied the sons, Ylli, Agron and Mehmet, together with the “Atlantic” Battalion, to the lines of the front in the Kosovo war.
I don’t remember the exact time when I met the Bytyçi brothers for the last time in Pristina, but it must have happened there from the penultimate week of June 1999, when they decided to pay us a visit and came from Prizren in a car red. They were the same: happy and full of energy.
The first news of their abduction and imprisonment by the Serbs arrived in the first or second week of July, but it was finally confirmed by the end of July. Ylli, Agron and Mehmet Bytyçi were sentenced for misdemeanors to 15 days in prison by a judge in Kurshumli, Serbia, who ordered them to be sent to Prokuple prison.
The post-war Kosovo summer was full of whispers, words, theories and rumors of all kinds.
All kinds of stories spread: how they had been preparing a secret special operation; how they had been in pursuit of Serbian paramilitaries and had not noticed that they had mistakenly entered Serbia; how they had been executing a plan to kidnap Serbs inside Serbia, who would later seek to exchange them for Albanian hostages in Serbian prisons, but, unfortunately for them, had been captured by the Serbo-Yugoslav special forces , etc., etc.
There is also a strange version: some say that the brothers were detained at a checkpoint controlled by Russian soldiers of international forces inside Kosovo and after being arrested they were handed over to Serbia.
What was said and what was not said, but the most reliable version was given to us by the family of the Bytyçi brothers, after our soldiers talked with them in their house in Prizren.
Bytychi were American citizens and we asked them to do something in cooperation with the American Government.
As soon as we arrived in the USA, most of us immediately became interested in the fate of the Bytyçi comrades. We alerted community associations and organizations, and together with Bacë Ahmet, the father of three brothers, we contacted members of the US Congress, Eliot Engel and Sue Kelly; then the office of Senator Charles Schumer, but all we got as an answer was that the Serbs knew that the Bytyçi brothers were Americans, so they would think twice before taking any action against the brothers that would violate their rights.
Weeks, months, then a year passed and, while the second year was passing since the day of the imprisonment of the Bytyçi brothers, on July 2, 2001, a group of former “Atlantic” soldiers, we decided to go to the promotion of the book “Waging Modern War” of the NATO commander during the Kosovo War, Wesley Clark.
Pashtrik, I gave the order for NATO planes to immediately bomb the Serbian positions in front of you, to avoid the danger that threatened them… As for the case of the three brothers, I don’t know anything, but if you give me their names , I will look into this matter and see what I can do.
I took a piece of paper, wrote the names of Ylli, Agron and Mehmet Bytyç and gave it to General Wesley Clark, thanking him once again for his willingness to help us.
I don’t know what Clark did, but within a few days a lot started to move. The black report that the Bytyçi brothers had been executed was heard by everyone. At first, as compensation; then very soon, it came out as real news. The Serbian state had also committed a crime. Unlike other cases, when it had killed hundreds of thousands of Croats, Bosniaks and Albanians, the Serbian Government in the case of the Bytyçi brothers took the lives of three American citizens.
According to Joe DioGuardi, the day after the promotion of his book, on July 3, Wesley Clark called the American ambassador in Belgrade, William Mongomery. Two days later, on July 4, DioGuardi was surprised when he was asked if he accepted a call from a Serb in Belgrade.
A man named Vladimir Radomirovic, editor of the Serbian newspaper “Reporter”, had explained by phone to the chairman of the League that he had received information from anonymous people within the Government of Serbia about the opening of a mass cemetery in Petrovoselo.
Radomirovic had said that, according to his sources, the remains of the persons discovered in the cemetery of Petrovoselo were believed to be the bodies of the Bytyçi brothers, who had their eyes closed with black bands, their hands tied behind their backs with wire and had wounds bullets in the head and chest.
According to the expertise, the three Bytyçi brothers were executed at close range. A court document dated June 27, 1999, in which the names of the three brothers were written, was found in the clothes of one of the brothers. There it was said that they had been sentenced to 15 days in prison, because they had entered Serbia illegally!
As soon as he had finished the conversation with Radomirovic, DioGuardi called the American embassy in Belgrade, as well as Congressman Benjamin Gilman. The latter had put the administration of President George W. Bush under pressure and the result had been immediate.
American officials in Belgrade were busy gathering and securing as much information as possible, which would be sent urgently to the State Department in Washington D.C.
On July 12, Joe DioGuardi together with the advisor for Balkan affairs of the Albanian-American Civic League, Shirly Cloyes, had met with employees of the Department of State. State Department officials had promised to abide by the Bureau of Consular Affairs protocol, which spelled out the procedures by which the US state should behave when US citizens go missing or are killed outside America. Then they would announce the news to the Bytyçi family through official channels.
Baca Ahmet’s so humane behavior was the best indicator of why his sons had been rare people and pure patriots.
The news about the execution of the Bytyçi brothers angered both Albanians and Americans. He took the breath away from the civilized world around the globe. Many members of the US Senate and Congress, including Senators Mitch McConnell and John McCain, as well as Congressman Eliot Engel, called for the killers to be brought to justice.
The “Atlantiku” association issued several communiques to the media where we called on the State Department and all relevant authorities to do everything possible so that those responsible for the serious crime against the Bytyçi brothers would be brought to justice and receive the deserved punishment.
joins the delegation in Pristina.
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
The arrival of the remains of the Bytyçi brothers from Serbia to Kosovo.
Wednesday, February 27, 2002
2 p.m.: Military and civilian funeral ceremony with the participation of the family, former members of the “Atlantic” Battalion, KLA, citizens of Kosovo. The military honors at the ceremony were performed by the Kosovo Army Guard (TMK).
3:00 p.m.: The main memorial gathering at the “1 October” sports gym in the Student Center at “Kodre e Diellit”.
American for the tragedy that had plagued the Bytyçi family and for the Albanian-American community and sat down to write a very heartbreaking letter that he sent to us on the day of the funeral.
My friends of the “Atlantic” Battalion,
On the occasion of the loss of your three Bytyçi brothers, please allow me to share the pain and sorrow with you!
When American soldiers return from war, we welcome them with parades, medals, honors, and salutes to the highest levels of government. Our soldiers return happily to their homes, to their comrades and families. After they have fought and preserved America’s freedom, they can return home and continue their lives in comfort as before. American soldiers after every war are hailed as heroes, as they deserve
help their people. Strength of character, courage and loyalty of brothers
Bytychi to protect people from the land of their ancestors, are amazing. The fact that they chose to enter the battlefield makes those three guys extraordinary. This fact shows their dignity and integrity. I am sure that in heaven there is a special place for such brave warriors as Ylli, Agroni and Mehmeti were.
fundamental rights of every person on our planet are violated, are not we, the citizens of the whole world, in one way or another, responsible? The urgent question is: whose turn will it be next time, and will we allow ourselves to be onlookers next time, or will we learn from the tragedy of the Balkan peoples?
In the inability to respond to all comrades, benefactors, friends, comrades, institutions, both Albanian and American, and the means of information, on March 6, 2002, the association “Atlantiku” sent a letter of thanks, which it addressed to the Albanians in the Balkans , the Albanian-American community, the US State Department, the American Embassy in Pristina, the Supreme Headquarters of the Kosovo Army (TMK) and the editorial offices of news media in Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Republic of Albania and in US.
