…We’re Albanians, it’s true, but we too are from Macedonia… this is our home too.
ARJETA AHMEDI: …Can you tell us your name?
FATIME BELULI: I’m Fatime Beluli from the village Zubrino, born in 1953, I’m 57.
AA: Could you describe your village? Do any Macedonians live there?
FB: No, there’re only Albanians here… It’s a small village and it’s just us Albanians, no Macedonians live here.
AA: Did you have any contact with any Macedonians before the war in 2001?
FB: Well, not too often, because there are no Macedonians in our village…
AA: Did you have any contacts with people from outside of the village?
FB: Yes, we had some contacts, we had been talking to some Macedonians… We didn’t have any trouble with them…
AA: Who were those Macedonians, were they friends, acquaintances…?
FB: We had good relations with them…
AA: Do you think the system was unjust with the Albanians before 2001?
FB: It was unjust, it was very unjust.
AA: What kind of injustice are you talking about?
FB: Well… Many of us were unemployed… We were all… There were no jobs for us; we had no rights at all…
AA: Where were you during the war?
FB: At home, we were at home.
AA: At home… So you didn’t have to move?
FB: No, no, we stayed at home.
AA: Why do you think the war started in 2001?
FB: Well, the war was about gaining equal rights… with the Macedonians, it was about us winning the same rights.
AA: Is there any specific event from this time that left a strong mark in your memory?
FB: There were plenty… They came and took my son away while he was at work… We had a local shop… They came and took him from there… We had many problems, I don’t know how much […]
AA: Did some of the members of your family take part in the conflict?
FB: Yes… My son, my sister-in-law’s son and one of my husband’s cousins.
AA: What was your opinion about that, about their participation in the war?
FB: Well, they […] intended to go to war so that they could be equal with the Macedonians…
AA: Did you approve of your son going to war?
FB: I did.
AA: You did…
FB: I did… He went to war and they were all trying hard, but when he got back home, they came, took him in and put him in jail…
AA: Can you tell me more about this case?
FB: Sure… They came to take him in on… 18th August… They came and they took my son, who was working at the time… It was 1 pm… While he was working, the police came and surrounded our shop and then they took him away. From there they came to our house, around 50 policemen, they surrounded our house, broke in and searched the place, the house was… The whole furniture and the clothes, it was a mess… Under the pretext of searching for weapons… We didn’t have any weapons. We went through hell with all that, they took my son and held him in custody for 11 months, in prison. We were in a very bad situation, we went through a lot… They were beating him, torturing him, I don’t know what to say…
AA: So this period affected you most?
FB: Yes. It was too much; it was too much for us. We were so worried… They were torturing my son a lot… and I don’t know… It was bad things happening to us…
AA: Right. What did you fear most at that time?
FB: Well, I was afraid that… they might kill my son, that they might execute him… That I might lose him… And when we went there, when we saw him, we couldn’t recognize his face… That’s how harsh he was beaten…
AA: So they took him while he was at work?
FB: While he was at work at the shop… That was our shop, we all worked there… They came and arrested him… For 5 days we didn’t know whether he was alive or dead.
AA: Did you find out later where he was?
FB: Yes, we found out, we went after him right away and saw him… and we… we were so worried…
AA: About the arrest, what was he charged with, what did they accuse him of? Tell me more about the time he spent in prison…
FB: Yes…
AA: … after the conflict was over…
FB: Yes, after the conflict was over they locked him in under the charges of terrorism… He was not a terrorist… He went to war, just like all the others, to fight for his homeland… He was not a terrorist… They labeled him as one… That’s why they took him in and locked him up… His friends, those who fought by his side, were also accused of being terrorists… They all fought for their homeland… They fought for the freedom of the Albanian people, so that we could have equal rights… That’s what he fought for, not for terrorism…
AA: Which prison did they put him in?
FB: He was in… he was held in custody in Shutka… in Skopje.
AA: He was there the whole time?
FB: He was there the whole time.
AA: Were they letting you see him?
FB: They did. They were letting us… see him, and we did, but… We know best what we went though.
AA: Except… except for this, was there any other event which left a mark on you during this period?
FB: Well, after they set my son free, we didn’t have any problems… They set him free because he was innocent. Ever since we haven’t had any problems.
AA: Do you think 2001 might happen again?
FB: Well, I don’t know… I don’t know if it might happen again.
AA: What did the Albanians gain with the war from 2001?
FB: Well, the Albanians gained some rights… but we’re still not equal with the Macedonians. There is a change though.
AA: Such as?
FB: Well there are more jobs for the Albanians, we have more rights, more…
AA: If you had power to change anything, what would you change?
FB: Well, I don’t know, I’m not an educated woman, but… if I had the power to change anything…
AA: Doesn’t matter, what would you like to change?
FB: Well, I’d like for us to have more possibilities for employment, more rights… We’re just like all the others… It’s true we’re Albanians, but we too are from Macedonia… This is our homeland too.
AA: Right. Do you personally trust Macedonians after 2001?
FB: Well, both yes and no… A little bit…
AA: After all that happened, do you think it’s possible for us to live in peace with the Macedonians?
FB: Well, if they let us have our rights… why wouldn’t we live in peace… We are one… one… Macedonia is all of us who live here… It’s true we’re Albanians, but we’re here too. If they let us have our rights, we could live in peace again.
AA: Can you forgive all that happened in 2001?
FB: That cannot be forgiven… because my son was innocent… We went through hell… and that we cannot forgive… That can never be forgotten.
AA: So, you’ll never forget it?
FB: Never! Me, as a mother, and Safet’s dad… we can never forget that evil…
AA: Is there anything that I didn’t ask and you would like to share? Some specific situation… something you went through and you consider it important for you?
FB: There was nothing more important than them coming to take my son away… There was nothing worse than them breaking into our house to search it, and then telling me that they put my son in prison… I could never forget that… It was a great misfortune for two parents… I could never forget that…
AA: So they had already arrested him… they had taken him in…?
FB: First they took him in, put him in a van and took him to Skopje… Then they came here… We didn’t know our son was arrested yet… They told us afterwards. They searched our house, then they went back to the shop, then back here again, than another commission came from Skopje… They were all armed… That cannot be forgotten… We haven’t… We have never harmed anybody… And there were so many cops… All of them armed with automatic guns, all of them masked, it was too much.
AA: Were all the policemen Macedonians?
FB: Yes, all of them. They were all Macedonians, all masked, all with automatic weapons… They almost killed my youngest son… He was just a boy… coming home after he had played football, and they went in front of him and pointed their automatic guns at him to kill him. Then I stood between them and said: “He’s just a kid […] playing football, what business do you have with him?” Then they put their weapons down… That sort of thing I can never forget.
AA: Anything else?
FB: Well, there’s a lot to say, but I’ve gotten old… Let’s leave it like this…
AA: If you need to share something else, feel free […] Or if there’s anything else I failed to ask, feel free to…
FB: Yes, yes, I got it. Sometimes in life… If my son had been guilty, I wasn’t going to worry so much… But they locked him in innocent, took him in, beat him, worn him out… We had to go to Skopje every couple of days… We’d go to the prison and see him incarcerated, tortured, beaten up… and I don’t know… how we survived through those 11 months, it was very, very nasty…
AA: Did his life get better after he left the prison?
FB: It did… After going out of prison, he got engaged, then he married… He lives in Switzerland now, he’s doing well… But that pain cannot be forgotten… He has a happy life now, but still…
AA: Do you have anything else to say?
FB: I don’t know…
AA: Ok, thank you.
FB: You are welcome…