Albanians for America has reacted with great concern and disappointment to today’s verdict by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague concerning the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
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In a statement, the organization said it does not accept the decision, describing it as unjust to the people who fought for Kosovo’s liberation. AFA stressed that the KLA’s war was aimed at securing freedom and protecting the people of Kosovo.
“The Kosovo Liberation Army was created under conditions of repression and violence perpetrated by the Serbian regime, at a time when the Albanians of Kosovo were facing killings, expulsions, destruction and serious crimes. This historical truth cannot be undone,” the statement said.
According to Albanians for America, the verdict must not be used to put a people’s struggle for freedom in the dock. Nor should it create a moral or historical equivalence between Kosovo’s war of liberation and the Serbian state apparatus, which committed crimes and inflicted violence on civilians.
“The facts are clear: Serbia was the aggressor, while Kosovo was the victim. AFA stands with the KLA, the just struggle of the people of Kosovo for freedom, and the people of Kosovo themselves. In the 1998–1999 war, Kosovo was not the aggressor, but a people striving to survive and free itself from repression,” the statement said.
The organization also emphasized that today’s decision does not constitute the conclusion of the legal process. It is a judgment at first instance and, in accordance with the procedures of the Specialist Chambers, the parties may challenge it before the Court of Appeals Panel. For this reason, the judicial process remains open.
Albanians for America said it would continue to defend the historical truth about the war in Kosovo, the right of the Albanian people to dignity and freedom, as well as Kosovo’s strategic partnership with the United States of America.
“The KLA waged war to liberate Kosovo. Freedom belongs to the people of Kosovo, and this right cannot be put on trial,” the statement concluded.
