Balkans | Showing support for former President Thaci of Kosovo

Hundreds of people gathered in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, to show their support for former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who will appear in court tomorrow to stand trial for war crimes.

Former President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci was on trial for war crimes during the 1998-1999 War of Independence waged by the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) against Serbia. A show of support was held on Nona Theresa Street in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, for Thaci, who will appear before a judge of the Special Tribunal for Kosovo within the bench of the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.

The demonstration, which started at 14.00 CET, was organized on the initiative of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), whose leader Thaci has been for many years, and the Freedom Has a Name group. The current chairman of the PDK, Memli Krasničić, political representatives and hundreds of people attended the show of support called “We March for Justice”. In his speech here, Krasnichi said Thaci and other imprisoned politicians should be released as soon as possible. At the demonstration, where free buses were taken from various cities of Kosovo, demonstrators carrying banners “Freedom has a name”, often chanted slogans calling for the release of Thaci and his friends.

A war crimes indictment against Thaci, the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who fought for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, was accepted in 2020 by the Kosovo Special Tribunal under the International War Crimes Tribunal. Thaci resigned from his post on 5 November 2020 and headed to The Hague. The Special Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague claimed they were responsible for the deaths of 100 people in the war that lasted between 1998 and 1999, in the indictment prepared against Thaci and three others, and the suspects are also reported to be accused of war. Crimes such as murder, exile and torture.

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