Thousands rally in Pristina ahead of Hague verdicts for Hashim Thaci
Protesters filled a square in Pristina on Saturday before Wednesday's war-crimes verdicts in The Hague for former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci and three former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders. ABC News described thousands at the rally. AFP put the same crowd in the tens of thousands and said they demanded an acquittal. Prosecutors have asked for a maximum 45-year sentence. Hashim Thaci resigned in 2020 and has been held since November 2020.
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Crowds gather in Pristina for Hashim Thaci
Protesters filled the central square in Pristina on Saturday, many of them carrying red and black Albanian flags, ahead of war-crimes verdicts due in The Hague on Wednesday for former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci and three former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. ABC News described thousands packing the square in support of the four men. AFP put the same Saturday gathering in the tens of thousands, said the crowd demanded an acquittal, and reported chants of UCK, the Albanian initials of the wartime force. Portraits of Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi have been put up around the city.[1], [2]
Prosecutors seek 45 years for Hashim Thaci and three commanders
Prosecutors have asked for a maximum sentence of 45 years for Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, who are accused of murder, torture and persecution of civilians during and after the 1998-1999 war, in which 13,000 people died. Hashim Thaci resigned in 2020 to face 10 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the four have been held since November 2020 by the court in The Hague, which is formally part of Kosovo's judicial system. AFP reported that all four have pleaded not guilty, and that their lawyers argue the Kosovo Liberation Army was a decentralised local resistance that could not run structured abuse.[1], [2]
The march by Freedom Has A Name, and Edi Rama's remark
A huge digital clock counting down to the ruling has been installed in the city. Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote that the proceedings were in their final days as a farce. AFP said the march was organised by Freedom Has A Name, a group set up to advocate for Hashim Thaci and other detained former guerrilla leaders, and that the group argues the Kosovo Specialist Chambers is politically motivated. Veterans' leader Hysni Gucati told the crowd that no courtroom would erase what he called the truth of the wartime fight.[1], [2]
