KLA veterans and police officers, targets of arrests by Serbia
Express newspaper
27/11/2025 6:51
Border crossings with Serbia continue to remain problematic for former KLA soldiers and Kosovo police and former police officers.
Those who are risking passing through them are, in most cases, being detained and accused by Serbia of alleged war crimes.
The latest case was on Tuesday, where former KLA member Avni Qenaj was detained.
The KLA War Veterans Organization is expressing concern and appealing to fellow fighters to avoid border crossings with Serbia.
According to them, about ten people have been detained this year alone.
“By the dozens, yes, we have many cases, in recent years we have had the arrest of our comrade-in-arms from Peja who did not exist in our database, we had a case in Rahovec, two brothers from Rahovec some time ago, one was released while the other was held for a week and then released, but we have about ten cases this year with detentions and mistreatment by Serbia”, declared Gazmend Syla – OVL-UÇK.
A concrete case of mistreatment and unjust detention was expressed by the daughter of former fighter Hazir Haziri, who has been held by Serbian authorities for three months.
“His psychological condition is serious and he is experiencing a lot of emotional distress, especially considering his age, 77 years old, and he has no connection to the charges. This has also been confirmed by the lawyer we have engaged, who has completed all legal procedures, and he has been held without any proof, without any evidence, testimony for three months now,” emphasized Kaltrina Haziri – Hazir Haziri’s daughter, reports RTVDukagjini.
One of the cases that received the most attention recently was the arrest of former Kosovo police officer Arbnor Spahiu, who was held in detention from June to November.
Although he was not a police officer at the time, he was arrested on the grounds that he had participated in the Kosovo Police action to repel the terrorist attack in Banjska, where Kosovo Police Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku and three Serbian terrorists were killed.