Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
A Serbian propaganda film about the Recak Massacre, produced in 2022, claimed that the 45 civilians killed in this massacre were KLA soldiers.
Serbian language media "Novosti.rs", published an article on Monday night (August 12), with the title ""REÇAK" WAS THE BIG SCAM: See photos of "civilians" in terrorist KLA uniforms", based on propaganda data from this film.
Link to the article published by the Serbian language media outlet "Novosti.rs"
What does the article say?
Serbian propaganda film “Kosovo – Recak File” claims that the 45 civilians killed in the Recak Massacre were in fact uniformed soldiers of the Kosovo Liberation Army, thus inflating the official Serbian state narrative of denial of this crime.
The film "Dossja Kosova - Recak" by author Slagjana Zariq shows photographs of members of the KLA unit in Recak, which refute the thesis that "innocent civilians" were killed in Recak, as was said.
The film, according to the "Novosti" article, is based on several posts on social networks where photographs of several people in KLA uniforms were published, whom it claims are among the killed and massacred in Recak.
What is the truth about the Racak Massacre?
On January 15, 1999, in the village of Reçak in the municipality of Shtime, one of the most serious Serbian crimes in Kosovo occurred.
for The massacre of Recak, where 45 Albanian civilians were killed and massacred, have reported many international media outlets, based on international reports, considered this event a massacre of defenseless civilians. William walker, former head of the OSCE Verification Mission in Kosovo, was the first international official to witness this massacre, and the first to alert the world to Serbian atrocities in Kosovo. (You can read more about the Racak Massacre here.) HERE)
The argument that the Recak massacre was committed by Serbian forces has been made by many global human rights organizations, among them the most credible, Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has also accused Serbian police and military forces of this crime.
Human Rights Watch categorically rejected the Yugoslav government's claims that the victims of the January 15 attack in Recak were either Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers killed in combat or civilians caught in crossfire between the parties.
After a detailed investigation, the organization accused Serbian special police forces and the Yugoslav army of indiscriminate attacks on civilians, torture of prisoners, and executions at close range. Evidence suggests that government forces had direct orders to kill villagers over the age of fifteen. (HERE)
Another HRW report:
Journalists at the scene early on January 16 told Human Rights Watch that many of the twenty-three men also bore signs of torture, such as missing fingernails. Their clothes were bloody, with cuts and holes in the same spots as their bullet wounds, which argues against the government’s (Serbian, ed.) claims that the victims were KLA soldiers who had been dressed in civilian clothes after being killed. (see here)
(Hibrid.info has addressed the issue of the Racak Massacre and the Serbian and Russian narratives about it in the past – HERE, HERE).
Analyze
Serbian language media outlet "Novosti" published an article yesterday (August 12) evening with the headline: ""REÇAK" WAS THE BIG SCAM: See the photos of "civilians" wearing the uniforms of the terrorist KLA", based on propaganda data from a Serbian film about this serious crime.
Despite reports from credible international organizations that have verified the bodies, the Serbian state continues to deny this crime.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info considers this publication as "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
A “Disinformation” rating is given to media reporting that contains a “mix” of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful content. This rating will also address reports that have incorrect attributions or headlines that do not reflect the text in terms of information accuracy.