Latest news with #HashimThaci
San Francisco Chronicle
07-08-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Kosovo veterans rally against an EU-backed court prosecuting their former independence fighters
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo war veterans held a protest Thursday against a European Union-backed court prosecuting their former fighters who waged the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, claiming the tribunal is biased and unjust. Thousands gathered in Kosovo's capital of Pristina, at the main Scanderbeg Square, to chant in support of arrested former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA — a Kosovo Albanian guerrilla group that led the pro-independence fight. The protest was organized by the veterans association known as OVL-UCK under the motto: 'Together against injustice. KLA is glory, not indictment. Today KLA, tomorrow our whole history.' No violence was reported. 'They are heroes,' read one poster, with the names of the four KLA leaders facing trial at the EU-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers court, based in The Hague, Netherlands. 'The special court is deforming our history, it is showing injustice toward those who fought for human freedom and dignity,' said Hysni Gucati, head of the veterans' organization. Since 2020, four top KLA leaders have been in custody by the court — Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci, former Parliament Speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and ex-lawmaker Rexhep Selimi. They face charges that include murder, torture and persecution of civilians during and after the war. The court and an associated prosecutor's office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven't been included in indictments issued by the court. Two other former KLA members have already been sentenced by The Hague court, including Pjetër Shala. Also, Gucati, and another official of the organization have been convicted by the court in the Netherlands of witness intimidation and obstructing justice. Some 11,400 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died during the war, before a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbia to pull its troops out of Kosovo and to cede control of its former province to the United Nations and NATO. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, which was recognized by the United States and most of the West, but not by Serbia or its allies Russia and China. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain high.
Winnipeg Free Press
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Kosovo veterans rally against an EU-backed court prosecuting their former independence fighters
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo war veterans held a protest Thursday against a European Union-backed court prosecuting their former fighters who waged the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, claiming the tribunal is biased and unjust. Thousands gathered in Kosovo's capital of Pristina, at the main Scanderbeg Square, to chant in support of arrested former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA — a Kosovo Albanian guerrilla group that led the pro-independence fight. The protest was organized by the veterans association known as OVL-UCK under the motto: 'Together against injustice. KLA is glory, not indictment. Today KLA, tomorrow our whole history.' No violence was reported. 'They are heroes,' read one poster, with the names of the four KLA leaders facing trial at the EU-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers court, based in The Hague, Netherlands. 'The special court is deforming our history, it is showing injustice toward those who fought for human freedom and dignity,' said Hysni Gucati, head of the veterans' organization. Since 2020, four top KLA leaders have been in custody by the court — Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci, former Parliament Speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and ex-lawmaker Rexhep Selimi. They face charges that include murder, torture and persecution of civilians during and after the war. The court and an associated prosecutor's office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven't been included in indictments issued by the court. Two other former KLA members have already been sentenced by The Hague court, including Pjetër Shala. Also, Gucati, and another official of the organization have been convicted by the court in the Netherlands of witness intimidation and obstructing justice. Some 11,400 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died during the war, before a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbia to pull its troops out of Kosovo and to cede control of its former province to the United Nations and NATO. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, which was recognized by the United States and most of the West, but not by Serbia or its allies Russia and China. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain high.
The Independent
07-08-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Kosovo veterans rally against an EU-backed court prosecuting their former independence fighters
Kosovo war veterans held a protest Thursday against a European Union-backed court prosecuting their former fighters who waged the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, claiming the tribunal is biased and unjust. Thousands gathered in Kosovo's capital of Pristina, at the main Scanderbeg Square, to chant in support of arrested former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA — a Kosovo Albanian guerrilla group that led the pro-independence fight. The protest was organized by the veterans association known as OVL-UCK under the motto: 'Together against injustice. KLA is glory, not indictment. Today KLA, tomorrow our whole history.' No violence was reported. 'They are heroes,' read one poster, with the names of the four KLA leaders facing trial at the EU-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers court, based in The Hague, Netherlands. 'The special court is deforming our history, it is showing injustice toward those who fought for human freedom and dignity,' said Hysni Gucati, head of the veterans' organization. Since 2020, four top KLA leaders have been in custody by the court — Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci, former Parliament Speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and ex-lawmaker Rexhep Selimi. They face charges that include murder, torture and persecution of civilians during and after the war. The court and an associated prosecutor's office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven't been included in indictments issued by the court. Two other former KLA members have already been sentenced by The Hague court, including Pjetër Shala. Also, Gucati, and another official of the organization have been convicted by the court in the Netherlands of witness intimidation and obstructing justice. Some 11,400 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died during the war, before a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbia to pull its troops out of Kosovo and to cede control of its former province to the United Nations and NATO. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, which was recognized by the United States and most of the West, but not by Serbia or its allies Russia and China. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain high.
Associated Press
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Kosovo veterans rally against an EU-backed court prosecuting their former independence fighters
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo war veterans held a protest Thursday against a European Union-backed court prosecuting their former fighters who waged the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, claiming the tribunal is biased and unjust. Thousands gathered in Kosovo's capital of Pristina, at the main Scanderbeg Square, to chant in support of arrested former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA — a Kosovo Albanian guerrilla group that led the pro-independence fight. The protest was organized by the veterans association known as OVL-UCK under the motto: 'Together against injustice. KLA is glory, not indictment. Today KLA, tomorrow our whole history.' No violence was reported. 'They are heroes,' read one poster, with the names of the four KLA leaders facing trial at the EU-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers court, based in The Hague, Netherlands. 'The special court is deforming our history, it is showing injustice toward those who fought for human freedom and dignity,' said Hysni Gucati, head of the veterans' organization. Since 2020, four top KLA leaders have been in custody by the court — Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci, former Parliament Speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and ex-lawmaker Rexhep Selimi. They face charges that include murder, torture and persecution of civilians during and after the war. The court and an associated prosecutor's office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven't been included in indictments issued by the court. Two other former KLA members have already been sentenced by The Hague court, including Pjetër Shala. Also, Gucati, and another official of the organization have been convicted by the court in the Netherlands of witness intimidation and obstructing justice. Some 11,400 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died during the war, before a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbia to pull its troops out of Kosovo and to cede control of its former province to the United Nations and NATO. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, which was recognized by the United States and most of the West, but not by Serbia or its allies Russia and China. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain high.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kosovo ex-president Thaci visits father's tomb after Hague court bars him from attending funeral
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Hashim Thaci, a former president of Kosovo who is facing war crime charges, was temporarily released from custody at a court based in the Netherlands on Friday to visit the tomb of his father who died last weekend. Thaci, 56, wasn't allowed to attend Tuesday's funeral, which leaders and local politicians from Kosovo and neighboring Albania were present for. Kosovo Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu complained to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague that Thaci was barred from going. 'I was the last to come, dad,' Thaci wrote on the wreath he put at his father's tomb on Friday in the village of Buroje, 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of the capital, Pristina. He was accompanied by police officers from the Kosovo-based European Union Rule of Law mission, known as EULEX. Thaci was then taken to his house, where only close relatives could meet with him. It wasn't immediately clear when he would be returned to the custody of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers court in The Hague. His father, Haxhi Thaci, died on March 16 at age 87. Three days before his father's death, Hashim Thaci was allowed to visit his father for about three hours at a public hospital in Pristina accompanied by close family members. Thaci and other senior leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, which waged Kosovo's 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, have been in custody in The Hague since November 2020. They face charges including murder, torture and persecution during and after the war. The court and a linked prosecutor's office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations haven't been included in indictments issued by the court. Around 11,400 people who died in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo were ethnic Albanians. A 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian troops ended the fighting, but tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade and its key allies Russia and China refuse to recognize. A European Union-facilitated dialogue on normalization of their ties, which started in 2011, has given scarce results.
