Protests against the prison sentences handed down to former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), including former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, are continuing in the capital, Pristina.
The protest, organized by the KLA War Veterans Organization in Skanderbeg Square, was attended by former KLA soldiers, veterans, politicians and thousands of citizens. The demonstration lasted approximately one hour and ended without incident.
Protesters call for the ruling to be annulled
Altin Krasniqi, the son of Jakup Krasniqi, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in The Hague, said in his speech that the history of the KLA was not only the history of those who took up arms, but also that of a people who refused to submit.
Krasniqi said that the people rise up when faced with injustice and when their freedom and dignity are denied. He said that the struggle must continue, but not through hatred and revenge; rather, it must be pursued through argument, law, dignity and unity.
Hysni Gucati, president of the KLA War Veterans Organization, also called on the court to annul the convictions against former members of the KLA. Gucati called for more than 2 million Albanians to be considered as a people who rose up to defend their own children.
Sentences handed down to the commanders
The ruling in the case heard in The Hague was announced on September 16. The court found Thaçi, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi guilty of war crimes, including the arbitrary detention of 385 people, mistreatment of 49 people, torture of 303 people and the killing of 96 people.
The court sentenced Thaçi and Krasniqi to 25 years each in prison, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years.
Jurisdiction of the special court
The special court, also known as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, and its Specialist Prosecutor’s Office were established in The Hague but operate under Kosovo law. The judicial body, composed of international judges and prosecutors, was established to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes committed in Kosovo between 1998 and 2000.
Since the beginning of 2019, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has invited dozens of former KLA members to give testimony. Thaçi, Krasniqi, Veseli and Selimi had been detained in The Hague since April 3, 2023, pending trial.
The first indictment against the four men was confirmed on October 26, 2020. The indictment alleged that the defendants were responsible for the deaths of approximately 100 people and stated that they had been charged with war crimes including murder, deportation and torture.
The Kosovo War and the independence process
The Kosovo War, which took place between 1998 and 1999, ended with NATO’s ground and air operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, formed by Serbia and Montenegro. More than 10,000 people in Kosovo, most of them Albanians, were killed in the war, while more than 1 million people from different ethnic groups were forced to leave their homes.
The KLA was established by Kosovo Albanians in the 1990s to oppose Yugoslav forces and turn Kosovo into an independent country. Following the war, the organization was disbanded, and its commanders and soldiers joined Kosovo’s newly established security institutions.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. Serbia continues to regard Kosovo as its own territory.
