Jakup Krasniqi, former political spokesperson of Kosovo Liberation Army is arrested based on a warrant arrest issued by The Hague based Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
“Based on a warrant arrest from the Specialist Chambers Jakup Krasniqi is arrested and he is on the way to The Hague,” Krasniqi’s lawyer Valon Hasani told media.
He added that there is no information about any specific charges, but it has to do with war crimes.
“Charges are not specified but are within the jurisdiction of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers,” Hasani added.
The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office supported by the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and Kosovo Police raided Krasniqi’s house for around nine hours.
They also raided Krasniqi’s house in village Negroc in municipality of Drenas.
As the raid was taking place, the Government of Kosovo issued a statement saying that Kosovo will give an example of respect and cooperation with local and international justice.
“The Government of the Republic of Kosovo recognizes as inalienable the pure and sacred purpose of the people of Kosovo in the fight for freedom,” reads the statement.
“The presumption of innocence must be respected in any case unless there is another decision of the competent court,” government’s statement says.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office were established five years ago, in August 2015, by the Kosovo Parliament to investigate crimes allegedly committed by former Kosovo Liberation Army members.
The former parliament speaker, Krasniqi was one of the key figures of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA during the war with Serbia.
Jakup Krasniqi served as acting president of Kosovo and was one of the closest politicians with the president Hashim Thaci, then leader of Democratic Party of Kosovo.
In 2014 Krasniqi alongside the former KLA commander, Fatmir Limaj launched the Initiative for Kosovo (Social Democratic Initiative) and left Thaci’s party.
