Over 500 veterans and citizens from Kosovo leave for the Netherlands, will join the protest in The Hague

Over 500 veterans and citizens from Kosovo leave for the Netherlands, will join the protest in The Hague

Over 500 veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army and other citizens from Kosovo have set off for the Netherlands. A massive protest is expected to be held on Sunday near the Special Court building, in support of the former superiors of the Kosovo Liberation Army. With patriotic songs and calls for justice, numerous citizens have set off from Kosovo for the Dutch city.

Albanians from the United States and various European countries will protest on Sunday with the slogan “Freedom for the liberators.” The Albanian diaspora has come together in support of the former KLA superiors, in an event on September 14 – a day before the hearing of the first defense witness begins.

Ramadan Gashi, secretary of the Organization of Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans (OVL-UCK), says they are planning to arrive in The Hague on Sunday, shortly before the start of the protest, which will begin at 14:00 PM.

“The number of participants in this protest is very large, but here from this place where we are leaving, there are over 500 veterans who will leave in an organized manner towards The Hague, where our comrades are being unjustly held in The Hague prisons, where they are being unjustly tried. We are expecting to leave in an organized manner towards The Hague. Somewhere around seven buses from Jora Center here in Llapushnik towards The Hague we will leave together with other comrades who are ready to come with thousands of people from Kosovo, by airplanes, with their own vehicles,” he says.

“Freedom for the liberators” will be the main call at the protest in The Hague, Gashi adds.

“We are hoping that our requests, which we sent yesterday to Strasbourg to the European Parliament, who welcomed us very well, will be taken into account, the chairman Hyseni Gucati and the deputy chairman Gazmend Syla, who submitted a valuable documentation, who welcomed that documentation so that our requests will be taken into account. We will go and hold a peaceful protest. We hope that soon the president, the speaker of parliament, everyone will turn white and be released… The main call will be freedom for the liberators, they do not belong in prison, they will be free and have a place in Kosovo, to return to their families and be free like all citizens of Kosovo,” he said.

Hysen Bytyqi is 80 years old, but age has not prevented him from taking the long journey to The Hague.

“I have joined you [in the protest] and I will join you to the fullest extent, I will never leave you… We are going to The Hague to protest against the injustice of the Hague Special Court… I will never wait, until I die, to travel to The Hague,” he emphasizes.

Zenel Shala from the 113th Brigade “Mujë Krasniqi” also joined the journey towards The Hague.

“Today we have set off for The Hague, in defense of our liberators, in defense of the war in which we believe and hope that very soon they will be free and by our side… We expect to show solidarity and show the entire international and local public that the KLA has waged a just and necessary war for the collective freedom of the Albanian people. They are unjustly being held there in The Hague,” he said.

The priest of the village of Burojë in Skenderaj, Fadil Idrizi, spoke before leaving for The Hague, where a massive protest is expected to be held.

As a 14-year-old, he was part of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

“Our approach and our going there to The Hague is to participate in solidarity with those boys and those brothers who are unjustly being held in Special Prisons. They are victims who are paying the price of freedom today. The Serbs are the ones who have committed crimes and have committed atrocities, while we as citizens of Kosovo, once again as imams, have joined you in this campaign to give our message to the internationals and tell you that these are the soul of this people and the flesh of this people,” he said.

Sheremet Pantina from the village of Gllareva in Klina will travel to The Hague tomorrow, but with dozens of family members they will depart from Germany.

“Today I have come to greet my friends who are going to support justice that is being done to you in The Hague against the former leaders of the KLA, we are going to defend justice, not to destroy justice… A bus of 42 family members are with nephews, nieces and uncles, they are going from Heidelberg tomorrow, I am going by plane,” he said.

The special, which investigates alleged war crimes, is based in the Netherlands and operates with international staff, although it was established under Kosovo laws in 2015.

There, former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, former Speakers of Parliament Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former MP Rexhep Selimi are in a protracted trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

They are accused of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. All have pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against them by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.

Another protest in The Hague was held in April 2023 – at the time when the trial of former KLA superiors had begun.

Meanwhile, recently in Pristina, the KLA War Veterans Organization gathered former fighters and other citizens on August 7 in a protest against the injustice they believe the Special Court in The Hague is inflicting on them.