The President of the Parliament of North Macedonia, Afrim Gashi, stated today that “no verdict can dispute the fact that former KLA leaders Hashim Thaçi, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli, and Rexhep Selimi belong to a glorious chapter in the history of Kosovo.”
At the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, composed of international judges, verdicts were delivered against former KLA leaders Hashim Thaçi, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli, and Rexhep Selimi, who were convicted of war crimes in Kosovo and Albania. Thaçi and Krasniqi were each sentenced at first instance to unified sentences of 25 years in prison, Veseli to a unified sentence of 18 years, and Selimi to 13 years in prison.
Today’s decision by the court in The Hague, Gashi wrote on Facebook, “represents a first-instance verdict, and the fight for justice continues,” and that “today is a day to stand together – with dignity and composure – and to show that our hearts and minds are with the liberators and their families.”
According to him, “at a time when the freedom of Kosovo – as well as peace and stability in the region – were still ideals worth fighting for, they had the courage to step forward and take historical responsibility for bringing freedom to their people.”
Gashi emphasized that for the Albanian people, the four former KLA commanders “are and remain the liberators of Kosovo” and that “the hardest battle was for a free Kosovo, and they won it.”
“A free Kosovo stands as a testament to that generation who dared to dream of freedom and serves as a source of strength that must sustain us in the face of today’s decision and future challenges. The KLA’s struggle, with the sacrifice and selflessness of those who led and participated in it, paved the way that led to Kosovo’s freedom and a new era of regional peace and stability,” Gashi wrote.
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