The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has expressed hope that at the beginning of 2026 a verdict of acquittal will be announced for former President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, and other commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who are currently on trial in The Hague. In a live appearance on Facebook, Prime Minister Rama emphasized that only a verdict of acquittal for these former leaders would represent a “redemption of this misfortune” that has lasted for more than five years.
During the live broadcast, he noted that he was traveling to The Hague to visit Hashim Thaçi, who is currently in pretrial detention.
Prime Minister Rama expressed concern over the judicial process, describing it as a trial without evidence, and added that there has never been a solid factual basis to support the charges brought against the former KLA leaders. He stressed that the process has had serious consequences for well-known figures in Kosovo and for its people, highlighting that they have remained imprisoned in The Hague for five years, a long period without a justified conviction.
“I am in the car, on my way to The Hague where I will meet, after so long, the KLA commander, the President of Kosovo, who was taken from his office and has been held captive for years in a cell of international justice, and for the great shame of all those who sponsor this kind of justice, where violations of standards, human rights, and all legal norms are a fact. The only norm characterizing this farce, where a democratically elected president by the people, along with three comrades who held important duties in Kosovo, are still kept locked up and isolated before being convicted,” Rama said.
He further stated that he believes justice will ultimately prevail.
“I want to believe that justice will ultimately prevail. Here, there is only one justice, which is the blessed justice forever sanctified by the blood of heroes, martyrs, and the unspeakable suffering of mothers, women, and girls who were raped and mutilated during one of the darkest periods in Europe itself, in the heart of Europe,” Rama declared.
The trial against the former KLA leaders began in The Hague in April 2023. The four KLA leaders have been in pretrial detention since November 2020. The Office of the Specialist Prosecutor, which holds the former KLA leaders responsible for alleged war crimes, presented around 125 witnesses in court and relied on more than 100 written testimonies.
Over the past year, five protests have been organized in Pristina, The Hague, Tirana, Strasbourg, and Skopje in defense of the former KLA leaders.
