KLA War Veterans Association warns of protests after Special Court law is returned; Haziri blames MPs

The Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Association (OVL UÇK) has called the return of the Law on the Specialist Chambers to Parliament for reconsideration unacceptable. The organization warned it would protest if Parliament delays approving the law. Meanwhile, Çlirim Haziri, organizer of the “Not in My Name” protests, said all MPs who voted for the law on October 6 were responsible for the situation that had arisen.

The reactions followed President Justina Shiroka-Pula’s decision to return the law to Parliament for reconsideration, at the request of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which drafted and sponsored it.

Gazmend Syla, deputy head of the OVL UÇK, told KosovaPress that the decision had taken efforts to amend the law almost back to square one. In his view, the situation amounted to a victory for the Specialist Chambers.

Syla expressed frustration over veterans’ efforts to oppose the Specialist Chambers, saying political developments had left them feeling insulted.

“For us, this is an extremely low and unacceptable political act. In a way, a cause was built to defend the KLA leaders, and these actions were taken on the basis of that cause. We had some hope that something good would happen after the amendments to the law. Now we are almost back to square one. The law has now been sent back. I am convinced that whatever comes next, any changes will be weaker than those that were in place. At the same time, this is a victory for the Specialist Chambers, because now they can hardly wait to say: ‘You were wrong—look what happened.’ You know that the OVL UÇK has consistently taken part in protests. There have been times when we were bloodied in the square during clashes with police; people suffered cuts to their faces and heads. And now, ultimately, we are being told that those protests were pointless. I feel bad and insulted by this political game that has been played,” Syla said.

The OVL UÇK deputy head warned that protests could resume if the parties and Parliament failed to act seriously and swiftly on the law returned by the Presidency. He noted that the deadlines for appealing rulings in The Hague were continuing to run.

According to Syla, primary responsibility lay with the party that had promoted the legal amendments, while he called the request to return the law incomprehensible.

“The deadline for appeals is now running, and the days are drawing closer. If we do not see seriousness from Parliament and the political parties in moving the law forward as quickly as possible, we will certainly take to the streets to pressure our Parliament to pass the new law as soon as possible. If they try to drag it out, we will come out. The KLA matters more than short-term political maneuvering. The main responsibility falls on this party: it promoted this, encouraged a public response and raised people’s hopes. The request to withdraw it is incomprehensible. We cannot even test whether the president would have promulgated it or not,” Syla said.

Çlirim Haziri, organizer of the “Not in My Name” protests, criticized MPs for how they had handled the law. He said that although protesters had repeatedly called for amendments, MPs had left them until the last moment.

Haziri objected to the politicization of the protests and stressed that everyone who voted for the law was responsible for its content.

“There has always been an attempt to politicize the protests, but the reality was different. The pressure to vote on the law for the KLA was due to the circumstances we were in. MPs had a constitutional deadline because of their obligation to elect a president. Given that reality, we asked them to pass the law first and then settle their political issues among themselves. They left it until the last night. The law was always a secondary priority for them. We have been protesting since day one, with two demands: changes to the law and sufficient funds for those in The Hague … All those who voted for this law are responsible. If they had the opportunity and the means to change it, they should have done so then,” Haziri said.

The Presidency explained that the law was returned for reconsideration because of provisions defining the jurisdiction and mandate of the Specialist Chambers, as well as the protection of the constitutional rights of those on trial in The Hague.

Passed by Parliament on October 6, the law provides for a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, allows appeals to be filed with Kosovo’s Supreme Court, requires sentences to be served in Kosovo and permits presidential pardons.