After the rise of the Albanian nationalist League of Prizren ( 1878 ) , he took part as a young man in the Battle of Slivova against Ottoman forces on 22 April 1881 . Isa built a power base in his hometown and illegally seized property from fellow Muslims . By 1898 – 99 , he received money for protecting the Serbian Orthodox community in the Mitrovica region , and was rewarded with a medal and supply of weapons by the Kingdom of Serbia . The Sokolica Monastery , located between Albanian villages , was protected by brothers Ahmed and Isa , who lived 800m and 100m , respectively , from the monastery . It was stated in 1899 , by Serbian consul in Pristina Svetislav Simić , that " not one Serb fell from his rifle , and where the power of his '' martini '' reached , the '' rayah '' was completely free from '' zulum '' " . The time after 1900 was increasingly marked by ethnic tensions . In the summer of 1901 , organised atrocities on Serbs in Ibarski Kolašin were carried out under the command of Boletini , including massacres , rape , blackmail , looting and eviction of local ethnic Serbs . An earlier Ottoman investigation had uncovered arms smuggling from Serbia to Ibarski Kolašin , sent to protect the local Serb population from atrocities ( constant since the 1897 war ) . The events led to Russia opening a consulate in Mitroviça ( Mitrovica ) on May 7 , 1902 . Schterbina was appointed consul . Boletini threatened that all Serb houses would be set upon fire if they worked with the consulate – the consul could not enter Mitrovica until the Porte sent for Boletini to Istanbul . It is reported on 29 September , according to an Ottoman source , that Boletini had given himself up to the authorities , was to be pardoned and used by the Ottomans against Mustafa Aga and his supporters . He is reported on 24 November 1902 as having arrived in Istanbul . Four days later it was reported that the Porte promised to not return Boletini to Mitrovica , and that Schterbina was soon to arrive to the consulate . Sultan Abdul Hamid II , instead of crushing Boletini , brought him to Istanbul and appointed him head of the palace guard ( tüfenkciler ) . To govern the sultan used patronage networks by awarding privileges and government positions to co opt local charismatic leaders such as Boletini into the Ottoman system
organised atrocities on Serbs
1901 massacres of Serbs
Isa Boletini