Albin Kurti, the head of Kosovo’s largest party Vetevendosje (LVV) has urged the government to organize and support the legal defense of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Two of Kurti’s political nemesis, former president Hashim Thaçi and former speaker of parliament Kadri Veseli are among the seven people charged and undergoing trial in Kosovo war crimes court located in The Hague.
In his first press conference since the arrests of former KLA leaders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, on Sunday Kurti implied that their prosecution also affects the image of the KLA.
“It’s not just individuals being prosecuted in The Hague, but neither can defendants be defended as individuals. The state of Kosovo must organize and coordinate the defense of the defendants […] The KLA did not belong to anyone in particular but to everyone, and we must all defend it. This is also the job of the government, this is the job of the government in particular,” the opposition leader stated.
Vetevendosje opposed the creation of the Kosovo special war crimes court and voted against in 2015, when the parliament changed the constitution to make space for the creation of the court.
Kurti called the court unfair and biased against the KLA and Albanians. He argued against the prosecution charges about a “joint criminal enterprise” within the KLA during the war with Serbia.
