Aziz Kelmendi

Aziz Kelmendi (Азис Кељменди, Azis Keljmendi; January 15, 1967 in Lipljan, SFR Yugoslavia – September 3, 1987 in Paraćin, SFR Yugoslavia) was a Faculty of Law regular student at the University of Priština. An ethnic Albanian, he had been serving as a Yugoslav People's Army soldier. On September 3, 1987, Kelmendi armed himself with an automatic rifle, and in what would become known as the Paraćin massacre, he shot dead four people: two Bosniaks; Safet Dudaković and Hazim Dženanović; one Croat, Goran Begić; and one Serb, Srđan Simić. He also wounded five others. All of this happened at the military barracks "Branko Krsmanović", in the town of Paraćin, Serbia. The main witness of the massacre was Rizo Alibašić. Following this, he ran away from military casern on the Karađorđevo hill, where he was eventually surrounded. According to official reports of the Yugoslav authorities, Kelmendi then committed suicide.

Life and career
Kelmendi was born in Lipljan, but he completed his schooling in Prizren. In 1984, At the Faculty of Law at the University of Priština, he completed two semesters and passed six examinations with solid grades. After the completion of a military drill in MP5300 in Leskovac, Serbia, he was moved to MP7518 in Paraćin. The military police investigation reported no kind of serious conflict with other soldiers, however he was posthumously accused of thievery. At the time the massacre happened, he was serving the last month of his military service.

Political aftermath
The massacre provoked a political aftermath, rumors and doubts from the official version of the massacre. In the cities of Belgrade, Paraćin, Valjevo and Subotica, unidentified persons stoned Albanian stores.