Qarri: The Specialist Chambers’ verdict concerns individuals, while the PDK is obstructing the functioning of the Assembly

Political analyst Gani Qarri commented for “Bota sot” on the decision by the Specialist Chambers in The Hague against former KLA leaders, public reactions following the verdict, protests against the Specialist Chambers and recent developments in the Assembly of Kosovo.

According to Qarri, the court’s decision did not target the KLA as an organization and did not tarnish its war, but established individual responsibility for the persons convicted.

He said that, by focusing solely on the personal crimes of individuals, the Specialist Chambers did not accuse the KLA as a whole anywhere in the verdict. Qarri assessed that this position is in line with the positive opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s independence, as the highest legal body of the United Nations. According to him, the court also confirmed that the people of Kosovo’s war against Serbian genocidal occupation was legitimate and historically important, just like the liberation wars of occupied peoples in other parts of the world.

The analyst called for the responsibility of the convicted persons not to be equated with the KLA’s war. At the same time, he criticized the domestic justice system, saying that for more than two decades it had failed to issue rulings against gangsters and criminals without international support.

Qarri specifically mentioned the failure to investigate and shed light on many post-war killings, as well as cases of usury and mafia-style extortion with political connections, which, according to him, had even led to the suicides of unprotected Albanians. For this reason, he said Kosovo should delegate this part of the judicial system to Western countries. Otherwise, he said, there would be no hope that domestic justice would act against people who consider themselves untouchable by the law.

Qarri also made direct allegations against several figures from the PDK and AAK. He said that citizens were increasingly convinced that some of these figures posed a danger not only to the establishment of institutions, but also to the stability and functioning of the state.

According to him, if the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, the law and the justice system do not urgently intervene against them, confidence in Kosovo’s justice system will be further damaged. Qarri added that the view was also becoming increasingly widespread that trials for serious criminal offenses against indicted persons should be held in a European country.

Speaking about the situation in the Assembly, the analyst stressed that its constitution must first be completed, including the election of the missing deputy speaker from the PDK ranks. He said the Constitutional Court’s decision was clear and required the Assembly to be completed before other issues could be addressed.

Qarri assessed that the PDK’s request to place the draft law on the Specialist Chambers as the first item on the agenda contradicted this decision, since the legislature still had not been completed with all deputy speakers following the latest elections.

He argued that an Assembly that had not been fully constituted could not take steps to change the decision of the Specialist Chambers. According to Qarri, the only legal avenue for challenging possible injustices or ambiguities remained the Court of Appeals.

For the analyst, the election of all deputy speakers was a condition for making the Assembly legally functional and giving it the authority to make decisions, including those related to the PDK’s demands concerning the Specialist Chambers.

Qarri blamed several PDK figures for prolonging the institutional crisis. He said that, in addition to political disagreements over the election of the president, the refusal to cooperate with legitimate institutions and Prime Minister Kurti was obstructing the functioning of the state.

According to him, the PDK was also imposing conditions on the Assembly and preventing the election of the deputy speakers, even though a legislature that had not been fully constituted had no power to make decisions. Qarri described the demand for the immediate consideration of the draft law on the Specialist Chambers as deliberate conditionality that could further prolong the political deadlock and leave Kosovo without functioning institutions and stable governance.

He also addressed the protests against the Specialist Chambers’ verdict. Qarri said they should not be used to pressure the Assembly, the government or other institutions of Kosovo, nor should they become a threat to the country’s stability.

The analyst stressed that neither the still-unconstituted Assembly nor the current government was responsible for establishing the Specialist Chambers or for the sentences handed down on September 16 against the 4 defendants in The Hague.

Qarri added that the verdict should be treated as a legal matter. He said that, despite the Hague Prosecutor’s Office’s continued pressure, the Specialist Court had dismissed six charges of “crimes against humanity” against the convicted persons. For this reason, he said, individual responsibility should not be presented as a condemnation of the KLA’s war or as an attempt to tarnish it.

He recalled that the Specialist Chambers themselves had publicly clarified that the decisions did not constitute a condemnation of Kosovo’s war for freedom or of the KLA, but concerned specific individuals who had been found guilty of personal crimes.

For any claims related to injustice or ambiguity in the verdict, Qarri called for legal remedies to be used. According to him, the decisions should undergo careful review by the Court of Appeals so that no doubts remained about a biased or unfair trial.

He said the Kurti government could undertake this initiative and the Assembly could vote on it only after it had been completed with all deputy speakers, including the one missing from the PDK. Qarri warned that any further blockade of the Assembly by the PDK and entities linked to it would worsen the situation.

In conclusion, the analyst warned that opposition by other parties to the PDK’s draft law could lead to another parliamentary deadlock. He said that if no agreement was reached during these 13 days on constituting the Assembly, electing the president and ensuring stable governance, the country would face a new crisis, which he described as unacceptable for Kosovo’s parties and citizens.