On the 18th anniversary of the independence of Kosovo, thousands of citizens marched in Prishtina in support of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who are currently on trial in The Hague for alleged war crimes.
On Tuesday, thousands of Kosovo citizens in Prishtina marched under the slogan “Justice, Not Politics,” in protest of the ongoing judicial proceedings against former KLA leaders, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi, for each of whom the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague has requested a 45-year prison sentence.
The march was organised by the civic platform “Liria ka Emër” (Freedom Has a Name).
Organiser Ismajl Tasholli told the crowd that, “the KLA was not created to take foreign land, but to defend its own home,” adding that processes conducted “in the name of the people of Kosovo” should not be used to equate the aggressor with the victim. “Not in my name, not in our name,” Tasholli concluded.
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani and the leader of the ethnic Albanians Democratic Union for Integration party in North Macedonia, Ali Ahmeti (right), at the protest in Prishtina. Photo: BIRN/Fatrion Ibrahimi
Muhamer Ibrahimi, designer of Kosovo’s national flag, also addressed the rally, stating that the KLA “was the final response of a people threatened with extinction.”
Former KLA fighters and veterans joined the march as well.
Wearing his wartime uniform, former soldier Nuhi Pllana said that, “thanks to the blood and sacrifice of the fighters, we are here today,” adding that the protest was a “call for justice.”
Survivor of wartime sexual violence, Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, told the crowd that, “what unites the Albanian people is injustice and thar our freedom was violated.”
Photo: BIRN/Fatrion Ibrahimi
The protest received support from Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani, other senior institutional officials, several mayors across the country, and thousands of citizens.
The Specialist Chambers were established by Kosovo’s parliament in 2015 under pressure from the country’s Western allies who believed Kosovo’s justice system was not robust enough to try KLA-related cases and protect witnesses from intimidation.
However, many Kosovo Albanians believe the court is ethnically biased and denigrates the KLA’s just war against Serbian repression.
Closing statements at the trial of the four defendants will continue until February 18. Then the judges should decide on a verdict within 90 days.