TIRANA, June 25 – The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, met the former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, and other former leaders of the KLA in The Hague prison.
The news was announced by Laert Kola, quoted by Balkanweb on Sunday, according to which the last battle of the KLA leaders was discussed in these meetings, justice, which must be served fairly and quickly, and the time when the good of the Albanians was above party logos.
“Today in The Hague, where we met the symbols of the KLA, Thaci & Selimi. We discussed the last battle of the leaders of the KLA, justice, which must be served fairly and quickly, and the time when the good of Albanians was above party logos. Precious principles, especially in difficult times,” wrote Kola on social networks.
This is not Mayor Veliaj’s first visit to The Hague because he met the former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi and the other former leaders of the KLA, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi in October 2022.
Thaci and three co-defendants are charged with war crimes in the 1998-1999 war with Serbia. The war crimes trial of former Kosovo president Thaci began on April 3, 2023 at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, Netherlands.
Thaci, who served as commander-in-chief of the ethnic Albanian rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and three other former KLA heads, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, are charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes that took place during the 1998-1999 armed conflict against Serbian forces.
Thaci pleaded not guilty to all 10 counts, telling the court: “I understand the indictment and I am fully not guilty.”
Following the war, Thaci, whose nom de guerre was “Snake” for evading the Serbian police, and the three co-defendants took up prominent positions in the government. He served as president from 2016 until his resignation in 2020 following his indictment. /argumentum.al
