Acting Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Sveçla said in his closing statement before the court that he did not accept guilt for the charges against him and that he felt innocent.
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According to him, the actions undertaken in 2018 were part of a political activity against the ratification of the agreement on the border demarcation with Montenegro, reports Ekonomia Online.
Sveçla argued that he and the political entity he represented sought to stop a decision that they still consider harmful to the Republic of Kosovo. He insisted that he had never intended to endanger anyone’s life.
The acting minister said that the purpose of his actions was to oppose and prevent the ratification of the demarcation agreement, through which, according to him, Kosovo lost 8200 in territory. Sveçla stressed that the agreement was wrong at the time and remains so today.
He added that the passage of time had not diminished the reason for their opposition but, on the contrary, had made it clearer what they had sought to prevent. Despite their efforts, the agreement was ratified, and Kosovo now has 8200 fewer hectares.
Sveçla underscored that a vote can be completed within a day, while its consequences can last for generations. He also mentioned that, in his capacity as minister of internal affairs, he must now provide assistance to the citizens of that area with the difficulties they face, whereas as a member of parliament he had tried to stop the decision that caused those consequences.
He said he was being tried for attempting to prevent that decision, while requesting that his actions be examined in their entirety. According to Sveçla, it is not right for opposition to the loss of territory to be the subject of criminal proceedings, while the loss itself is treated as having no author, decision-maker or responsibility.
Sveçla repeated that he had not intended to endanger anyone’s life. He said his aim was to prevent a decision that he continues to regard as harmful to the Republic of Kosovo.
According to him, the actions were intended to interrupt the session and prevent the political decision-making related to the agreement which, as he put it, harmed Kosovo’s territory.
He said that his political position on the demarcation had not changed and that the agreement was wrong then and remains wrong today. Sveçla questioned how no one could be held responsible for the loss of territory, while criminal responsibility was being sought for the attempt to prevent it.
At the conclusion of his statement, Sveçla asked the court to declare him innocent. He said the proceedings were not examining the true purpose of his actions—namely, the attempt to prevent officials from giving away land—even though he acknowledged that he had not succeeded in that effort.
“I feel innocent of the charge brought against me. I am not being tried for what I intended to do—for preventing officials from giving away land. Unfortunately, I did not succeed in that effort. I ask you to issue a decision that does not distort history,” Sveçla said.
