Former KLA members in The Hague await verdict: We hope our fellow fighters will be acquitted

One day before the verdict is announced for four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, former KLA members gathered near the premises of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. They brought red-and-black flags, as well as photographs of former President Hashim Thaçi and former Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli.

The Specialist Chambers are expected to announce the verdict on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in the case of Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. The broadcast of the hearing will begin with a 10-minute delay.

Among the citizens present outside the court is former KLA soldier Ismail Selmani. He expressed his conviction that the verdict would be in favor of the former KLA leaders and described the judicial process against them as unjust and unacceptable.

Selmani said he hoped the court would issue a positive verdict, estimating this possibility at 99 percent. According to him, Hashim Thaçi served his homeland and did not act in anyone else’s interests.

“We believe and hope that tomorrow the court will issue a positive verdict, with a 99 percent probability. Hashim Thaçi is a man who served his homeland and no one else. I do not know how it could be accepted that these symbols of the nation are being tried unjustly. We do not want there to be problems, but if that happens, responsibility lies with the political leaders and not with the fighters,” he said.

The former KLA soldier added that former fighters had placed their trust in justice and expected the trial panel to reach a decision that was as professional and firmly grounded in the law as possible.

“We are seeking our rights because we trusted in justice. We took up arms to liberate our country. We believe that the Specialist Court will not fail in this case and that, if there is professionalism, it will issue a verdict that is legally sound in every respect. If there is no professionalism, we cannot know what might happen. It would be better for the entire Serbian state to be convicted than for the Albanian people or the leaders of the KLA, the founders of our people, to be convicted,” Selmani declared.

Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi have been on trial before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague for six years.

The prosecution accuses them of crimes against humanity, while the prosecutor has requested 45 years in prison for each of them.