LIVE: Protest in Pristina against the Special Court ruling

01.10.2026 – 17:07

Lavdie Gradica, daughter of the doctor killed during the war, Dr. Lec Gradica, was one of the speakers at the protest held in Pristina’s main square under the slogan “Not in my name”. The gathering was organized against the Special Court’s verdict against former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

In her speech, Gradica recalled her father’s work as a wartime doctor and his efforts to treat the wounded. She also spoke about her parents’ role in 1998 and the establishment of the Gradica Military Hospital, where, according to her, many people wounded during the war received treatment.

“I feel as proud speaking before you about the most glorious part of our history as I feel pain that, so many years after the glorious war of the KLA, we as a people are still trying to prove to the world that the sons and daughters of this land, who took up arms to defend our lands, protect our lives and bring us freedom, are innocent,” she said.

She stressed that Lec Gradica answered the call to serve during the war and considered his duty a humanitarian and patriotic mission.

According to her testimony, in the spring of 1998, her parents stayed in Gradica, where they provided assistance to KLA soldiers and residents of the area.

“My father was a doctor in the war. He was there to save the lives of the wounded, to help people and to serve his people. My father, like many freedom-loving people and as a man in a white coat, answered the call of his homeland while still operating underground, without fear,” she said.

As the number of wounded people and the need for treatment increased, her father took responsibility for establishing the Gradica Military Hospital.

“Seeing that the needs were growing day by day, my father took responsibility and founded the Gradica Military Hospital, a hospital where many wounds suffered for freedom were healed,” Gradica declared.

She said that Lec Gradica continued his work in the Qyqavica mountains until September 24, 1998, when he was killed.

Gradica also mentioned her mother and the loss of two family members during the war.

“I grew up with the absence and pain of a family that had lost its father figure. But I also grew up with the pride that he chose to be there where Kosovo needed him most,” she said.

Speaking about the verdict handed down in The Hague against former KLA leaders, she said that the families of the fallen and their supporters would not accept the history of the war being distorted or rewritten from the beginning.

“Seeing that people who are part of the history of our KLA war have been sentenced in The Hague today, we will not allow this verdict to be validated and this history to be rewritten or distorted. We respect justice. But justice must be just,” she said.

She sent a message to the former KLA leaders in The Hague, assuring them that they had support.

“Today, from this square, I want to tell those who are in The Hague: you are not alone. Behind you are the families of those who sacrificed themselves, behind you are the children who grew up without their parents, behind you are thousands of people and the entire freedom-loving nation that remembers the KLA war and the sacrifice made throughout the centuries,” Gradica declared.

In closing, she said that the protesters and the families of the fallen were not seeking privileges or revenge, but justice.

“We are not seeking privilege. We are not seeking revenge. We are seeking justice. In the name of the fallen, for our families and for you who are awaiting justice in The Hague. We want justice for the liberators! Glory to all those who gave their lives for the homeland!” she concluded.

01.10.2026 – 16:54

The deputy head of the KLA War Veterans Organization, Gazmend Syla, described the sentencing of former KLA leaders by the Special Court as “the seal of shame on international justice”.

Speaking at the protest held today in Skanderbeg Square in Pristina, Syla said that the Special Court was damaging and tarnishing the name of the KLA, KosovaPress reports.

“The sentencing of the four KLA leaders by the Special Court, which belongs to everyone except Kosovo, is the seal of shame on international justice. The sentencing of Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi, Sali Mustafa and Pjetër Shala to 125 years brings the total sentence imposed on our war to 627 years,” he said.

Syla called on Kosovo’s government to submit amendments and supplements to the Law on Specialist Chambers.

“For six years, you who lead this state have not looked back at us. We have not taken to the streets over our demands because our attention has been focused on The Hague. We went out only once, when that woman told us ‘zdravo brate’, or when we were asked to vote to remove veterans from the minimum wage. Today you have the opportunity to clear your name. Submit the amendments to the Law on Specialist Chambers to the Assembly and vote for them,” he said.