Residents of the village of Negrovci, the birthplace of Jakup Krasniqi, received with sorrow the verdict handed down by the Specialist Chambers in The Hague against former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
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Ismet Krasniqi, a resident of the village, described the verdict in a statement to KosovaPress as deeply unjust and unacceptable. “We considered the verdict very unjust. We expected something completely different. It is an unacceptable sentence for Albanians in general. There was no legal basis whatsoever for sentencing the four of them. We are very upset. The sentence is unacceptable. To tell you the truth, we did not sleep all night because we expected something completely different. But we will not sit idly by. We will seek justice. In the name of the people of Kosovo, in the name of the Albanian people in general, they are innocent. They cannot sentence them in our name,” Krasniqi said.
Krasniqi hopes that Kosovo’s institutions can change this reality and called on the government and the Assembly to act. “To be honest, we are placing our hopes in our government, led by Albin Kurti. It must become aware, and they must gather, unite, lead us; the parliament must convene, abolish that court and restore justice,” he declared.
He described his relationship with Jakup Krasniqi, whom he knew before, during and after the conflict. “Yes, we have so many, many, many memories of Uncle Jakup: before the war, during the war and after the war. As for what to say about Uncle Jakup, I do not know where to begin or where to end. We have many memories. And Uncle Jakup never deserved to be treated this way. They suffered together with the people. We fought as much as we could, and today they are sentenced to 25 years, 18 years and 13 years…” he recounted.
Asked about the announced protests, Ismet Krasniqi expressed his determination: “Yes, personally, yes. Only if I am not alive.”
Xhevat Krasniqi, Jakup’s neighbor, also considered the verdict unjust, saying that Jakup is not the kind of person who could have committed the acts for which he was convicted. “It is very harmful for Kosovo, because we were in our own country. Jakup is our neighbor; he is not the kind of person who does those things. Jakup is a good, irreplaceable man, not only for our village but for all of Kosovo. He did not deserve this. There is also a small glimmer of hope. God willing, I hope they work to abolish the court. The organization is good. There will be protests, of course, for four innocent men,” he said.
Mirjeta Gjoka-Krasniqi, who is Jakup’s neighbor and cousin, said the verdict had shocked his family and the entire village. “Jakup is our cousin, and this verdict has shocked us all. When the verdict was announced, it took us back to the war. The entire war of the Kosovo Liberation Army has been brought down; it has shocked us. It is extremely serious, we are emotional and cannot believe that they sentenced him so heavily. We, the government and we as a people, must not stop. We have a small hope in the Court of Appeals; we must not stop. We must continue until another verdict is reached. They must remain strong and hope that an acquittal will be issued by the Court of Appeals,” she said.
Zahide Krasniqi, another resident of Negrovci, said that the family and all of Kosovo had experienced the verdict painfully, expressing particular dissatisfaction with the sentence against Jakup Krasniqi. “We have taken it very badly, the whole family and all of Kosovo. Some people have taken to the streets in protest. Things could not be worse for Kosovo; it is a great injustice. They fought for the rights of the people; we have always been oppressed. We did not expect this. We thought we would celebrate, but this has been death for us. He had already spent part of his life in prison. We could speak for months and years about what we went through in the mountains, without food or drink, about the children and the massacres. How can they not remember what we experienced? And in the name of the people, how can the people condemn a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army? What has The Hague done, where is it violating the right of the KLA to be recognized as clean? I would have slept in front of the government for years to see the court abolished,” Krasniqi said.
At the conclusion of the proceedings, the Specialist Court in The Hague handed down heavy sentences: Jakup Krasniqi and Hashim Thaçi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, Kadri Veseli to 18 years in prison and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years in prison.
