Wrote: Festim Rizanaj
Two channels on Telegram, "CORRIDOR ✞︎”And“BUNKER", on December 14 (Sunday) published content commemorating the murder of six young Serbs in the "Panda" cafe in Peja, precisely on December 14, 1998.
These contents claim that the attack was carried out by "Albanian terrorists": "На данашњи дан 1998. у терорисчком нападу шиптарских терориста на госте кафеа "Панда" у Пећи мужиено је шест српских мудића (On this day in 1998, six young Serbs were killed in a terrorist attack carried out by Albanian terrorists against guests of the "Panda" cafe in Peja.).
What is known about the "Panda" case:
The incident occurred on December 14, 1998, when, as reported, two masked men opened fire at the “Panda” cafe in Peja, killing 6 young Serbs (five high school students and one student), all unarmed male civilians: Ivan Obradović, 15 years old, Vukota Gvozdenović, 18 years old, Svetislav Ristić, 17 years old, Zoran Stanojević, 17 years old, Dragan Trifović, 17 years old, and Ivan Radević, 25 years old. Serbian state bodies, through the media of the time, immediately accused the KLA of committing this criminal act.
Although the perpetrators of this crime were unknown, the then President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, described this attack as "the most monstrous crime in the series of attacks by Albanian terrorist gangs."
Until December 28, 2013, the families of those killed in “Panda” believed that their children had been killed by members of the KLA. But on this date, Aleksandar Vučić, who held the position of Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia at the time, stated in the show “Fjala e Rëndë” on the Serbian-language television channel “Pink” that there was no evidence that the crime had been committed by Albanians, as was believed until then.
Vučić: "In many cases there is a kind of omerta, a conspiracy of silence. Have we really discovered who killed our children? Or will we be surprised in the future?"
Pink: "Are you saying they weren't Albanian terrorists?"
Vučić: “I mean we have no evidence for this. On the contrary. I mean there are many terrible things that we will have to face. And I mean we will solve these problems. Because you cannot live with lies, you cannot live with deception!” (here and here)
Two years later, Vučić, who was also the head of the Bureau for Coordination of the Work of Security Services during the commission of this criminal act in Peja in 1998, said: “I am almost certain of what happened in the ‘Panda’ cafe, but there is no proof. I am not sure that our authorities can be proud of what they did then.” (here)
The leader of the Serbian political party "Serbian Movement for Renewal" (SPO), Vuk Drašković, says that the Serbian state security, led by Radomir Marković and through Milorad Ullemek, known by the nickname "Llegija", carried out the murder of six young Serbs in the "Panda" cafe in Peja in 1998, in order to present the KLA as a terrorist organization in the eyes of the international community. (here)
The former head of the State Security (Državna Bezbednost – State Security – DB was once part of the Serbian MUP, which at that time had state and public security), Radomir Marković, has testified with concrete evidence that the attack on the “Panda” cafe on December 14, 1998 was organized by “Legija”, a former commander of the JSO (Jedinica za specijalne operacije – Special Operations Unit). Marković has shown that the order to organize people from the security structures for the murder in Peja came from the head of the DB service, at that time headed by Rade Marković. Based on this article in the newspaper “Kurir” from 2014, it is said that, by accusing these two of committing the crime, the fact that the state, namely the DB, is primarily responsible for that crime is being hidden. (here)
Although the leading structures, both in Kosovo and Serbia, have still not found the perpetrators of the murder of 6 young Serbs in the "Panda" bar in Peja in 1998, based on the above statements, it appears that the claim that Albanians were involved in this case is completely unfounded and fabricated.
Analyze:
The Serbian-language channels “КОРИДОР ✞︎” and “БУНКЕР” on Telegram claim that on December 14, 1998, six young Serbs were killed in an attack on the “Panda” cafe in Peja by “Albanian terrorists”.
This claim was made at the time by Serbian leaders, including Milosevic, but no evidence has ever been provided to support such a claim. In fact, after the war, the current president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has on two separate occasions denied that the perpetrators of this attack were Albanians.
Therefore, based on the working methodology, hibrid.info concludes that these claims are unfounded and are assessed 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.