The red and black of the Albanian flag dominated the streets of The Hague on Sunday as hundreds of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, other countries in the Balkans, EU states, the UK and the US gathered to show support for former president Hashim Thaci and three other wartime Kosovo Liberation Army leaders who are on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

While the protest officially started at 2 p.m. local time in a designated area between the Kosovo Specialist Chambers war crimes court and the detention centre where Thaci and his co-defendants have been held for almost five years, KLA war veterans and their supporters began gathering from the morning onwards to voice their opposition to what they see as a biased trial.

The protesters marches through the streets of the Dutch city, singing patriotic songs and chanting “KLA” and the names of the four defendants: Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi. Some held a banner with the words: “Freedom to our warriors and leaders who brought these happy days to us.”

Several protesters who travelled to The Hague from Kosovo, Belgium, Finland, Germany, France and the US told BIRN that they want justice for the wartime KLA leaders and called the court “unjust” and “biased against Kosovo Albanians’ just war [against Serbian oppression]”.

The protest comes a day before the defendants’ lawyers begin the case for the defence. Thaci’s first witness is former assistant US secretary of state James Rubin.

Talking to the protesters in The Hague, the Dutch ambassador to Kosovo at the time of the establishment of the Specialist Chambers in 2015, Robert Bosch, recalled how he met Thaci at the time the court was being established by the Kosovo authorities under pressure from their Western allies.

“He was worried but I told him there is nothing to worry about because if the trial is fair, you will be free due to lack of evidence. Clearly, I was wrong,” Bosch said.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers are part of Kosovo’s justice system but based in The Hague with an international staff to ensure fair proceedings after witness intimidation problems in previous KLA-related cases. But many ethnic Albanians and supporters of the accused insist that despite this, the proceedings have been unfair to the defendants.

Many prosecution witnesses have testified behind closed doors to protect their identities due to fears of reprisals, but this has led to allegations of a lack of transparency.

The judging panel has set an estimated closing date for the defence case as November 14. After closing statements, the panel has 90 days to consider its verdict, suggesting it may come in spring 2026.

The four defendants are accused of having individual and command responsibility for crimes committed against prisoners held at KLA detention facilities in Kosovo and neighbouring Albania, including 102 murders.

The crimes were allegedly committed during and just after the war in 1998 and 1999.

Thaci was indicted in October 2020 and resigned as president the following month. He has been in detention in The Hague ever since.