PRISTINA – Politicians and public in Pristina reacted with shock, disappointment, and outrage after Kosovo Specialist Chambers in the Hague sentenced former KLA leaders to prison for war crimes.
Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years, Kadri Veseli to 18, and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years in prison for war crimes by the Trial Panel in the Hague.
Supporters gathered in central Pristina reacted with tears and disbelief as the judgments were announced, with some former KLA fighters calling the verdict “shameful” and warning that it would disrupt peace in the region.
Reuters reported that protesters scuffle with riot police outside the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) headquarters in Pristina after the verdict was delivered in the Hague.
Foreign Minister of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca, who followed the delivery of the verdict in the Hague court, stated that it was “a terrible verdict for Kosovo”.
“A terrible, draconian verdict for Kosovo, for our war of liberation. Kosovo only experienced a war, we know what the KLA war was and we know that there was no criminal mechanism to threaten any population. It is a sad, unfair, undeserved decision. It is indeed something that will cause very great damage, both to our narrative and to the state of Kosovo”, Konjufca said, it was reported by KoSSev.info
Similarly, Acting President of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, called the verdict “deeply sad news for the Republic of Kosovo, and a difficult moment for the families of those convicted and Albanians”.
“I send a message to them from Kosovo: stay strong, Kosovo is with you. The last legal word has not yet been said. The right to appeal is part of the process and must be fully exercised,” she remarked.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo expressed its “outrage, disappointment and opposition” to today’s verdict and assessed it as “a great injustice”.
It claims that the verdict is based on allegations and materials that this party considers “fabricated” and for years encouraged by the state apparatus and propaganda of Serbia with the aim of criminalizing the war of the KLA.
In addition, former KLA members claimed that the Kosovo Liberation Army “had not been a criminal enterprise, but an organized resistance”.
In a similar vein, Ramush Haradinaj, former Prime Minister of Kosovo, called the verdict against former KLA leaders “unacceptable and unjust”, insisting that the “liberation war was just” and that the ruling “must be appealed”.
