TIRANA, April 3, 2023 – Albania has voiced support for Kosovo’s former president Hashim Thaci and three other ex-leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), whose trial started on Monday in The Hague on alleged war crimes.
All of the defendants firmly deny the accusations and formally entered not-guilty pleas on Monday.
“I understand the indictment and I am fully not guilty,” Thaci told judges at the court in the opening stage of the hearing.
Thaci and the other KLA commanders are considered heroes in Kosovo and Albania for their efforts to stop the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Serbia’s Milosevic regime on ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo war in 1999.
“Are those who lead their people towards freedom against brutal regimes now to be considered criminals? It’s a concerning thought, especially considering the man in this photo was once hailed as the George Washington of Kosovo by Joe Biden himself!” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a tweet, featuring a photo of Thaci and linking to a news agency report on the trial.
Thousands of supporters of ex-President Thaci and the other former KLA leaders, protested in Kosovo’s capital over the weekend. The protest was organized by the Freedom Has A Name group, which expressed support for the former leaders.
Thaci, a former leader of the guerrilla fighters, became popular in Kosovo after its independence declaration and went on to serve as president and prime minister.
Thaci and three others have been in detention in The Hague pending trial and have denied the allegations.
They have received visits by many current and former top officials from Kosovo and Albania while in detention to express support those detained under what is widely perceived in Kosovo and Albania as wrongful accusations.
The charges against Thaci and others relate to the alleged kidnapping and disappearance of at least 100 civilians, mostly Serbs and Roma, and some ethnic Albanians. Similar trials in the past have mostly resulted in acquittal of former KLA leaders.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) is investigating the allegations, and the trial is taking place in The Hague to protect witnesses from intimidation.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which has been recognized by many Western states but not by Serbia or its allies Russia and China.
