Former President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, stated that he is completely innocent of the charges brought by the Office of the Specialist Prosecutor in The Hague. In his address before the trial panel, he said there is only one truth: that the charges do not hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the beginning of his speech, Thaci congratulated the citizens of Kosovo on the 18th anniversary of Independence, recalling the moment Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYesterday, Kosovo marked the 18th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Kosovo. On February 17, 2008, feeling the heartbeat of our ancestors, we declared Kosovo an independent, sovereign, and democratic state. From this courtroom, I wish to convey my warmest greetings to all citizens for this magnificent celebration,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Expressing his innocence regarding the charges, Thaci said he empathizes with and expresses sorrow for all the victims who suffered in Kosovo during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor nearly three years in this courtroom, you have heard the prosecution\u2019s charges and the defense\u2019s arguments. You have seen the facts, you have heard the truth. There is only one truth: the charges do not hold. I am completely innocent. I have said, and I say again with full conviction, that I empathize with and express sorrow for all victims who suffered in Kosovo, regardless of ethnic background,\u201d <\/em>he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thaci emphasized that at the beginning of 1998, he was a student in Zurich and, according to him, had no plans to take control in Kosovo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the time of the massacres in Qirez, Likoshan, and Prekaz, at the beginning of 1998, I was a student at the University of Zurich and was planning how to pass my university exams, not how to take control of Kosovo. The only person making morbid plans was Slobodan Milosevic for genocide in Kosovo. Therefore, like many other Kosovar citizens, I was forced to leave Kosovo early, as Milosevic\u2019s regime had persecuted and convicted me in absentia for allegedly breaking their discriminatory laws. Later, the same regime would also convict President Clinton, Secretary Albright, Prime Minister Blair, NATO Secretary Solana, and others in absentia\u2026 The prosecution claims the goal was to seize control of Kosovo. This is not only completely false and absurd, but also offensive. It is an offense to the memory of thousands of heroes who gave their lives for freedom. It is an offense to tens of thousands of innocent victims killed during the massacres. It is also unjust and offensive to the efforts of NATO and the Western alliance, with whom I closely cooperated,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thaci reiterated that it is painful to hear the charges from the Specialist Prosecutor, and that his only opponent, as well as the opponent of the people of Kosovo and the democratic world, was Slobodan Milosevic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHonorable judges, allow me to repeat an eternal truth. The only, truly the only opponent of mine, of the people of Kosovo, and of the democratic world was Slobodan Milosevic. It is painful to hear this accusation, especially since during the war I never knew if I would survive from hour to hour or day to day. I was not certain if I would see my family, my wife, and my newborn son, let alone take control in Kosovo\u2026 The question today is: control by whom? The truth is that control and power were entirely, completely in the iron hands of Slobodan Milosevic and no one else. Albanians exercised no power. It was paradoxical. They were suppressed by Milosevic\u2019s regime. Our mission was clear: survival, freedom, and peace. I had no illusions, but our only hope for salvation was the democratic world, the U.S., and NATO\u2026 The war could only be ended by NATO and no one else. That is what happened. Without NATO intervention, Kosovo would not have freedom. Kosovo would not have independence. Independence was not a tool to seize power, but for dignity,\u201d <\/em>he emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recalling the establishment of the Specialist Chambers, Thaci said that instead of the SPO removing a dark cloud over Kosovo, it seeks to block its sunlight with a storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe truth is that Russian and Serbian propaganda manipulated Dick Marty and fed him false information, and in the end, they even attempted to kill him to blame us. The goal was clear: to discredit Kosovo\u2019s most successful political and international project. When we voted in parliament to establish this court, we believed it would address the accusations in Dick Marty\u2019s report and act in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Kosovo. In practice, neither happened. I have been heavily criticized and continue to be criticized in Kosovo for supporting the establishment of this court. Critics claim this court aims to criminalize our struggle for freedom and the idea of independence. I did not believe that at the time when we voted, but I sincerely hope that time will prove I was right and the critics wrong\u2026 This prosecution, instead of removing Kosovo\u2019s dark cloud, seeks to block its sun with a black storm of the so-called joint criminal enterprise,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking about the prosecution\u2019s claims and accusations, Thaci said he had heard some of them even during election campaigns in Kosovo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany of the accusations I have heard from this prosecution in this courtroom I also heard during election campaigns in Kosovo. Yet they are exactly the same. It is painful that this prosecution tries to dismiss the testimonies of senior officials from the U.S., NATO, the U.K., and the U.N\u2026 This prosecution claims I supposedly misled them throughout the war. That is ridiculous. This prosecution overestimates me more than I deserve. On the other hand, the prosecution elevates fabricated evidence from Milosevic\u2019s regime to the sky, ignoring the truth,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On February 9 of this year, the closing statements in the case of the former KLA leaders began at the Specialist Chambers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This marks the final phase of the largest trial at the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The defense teams of Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi have requested that all four be declared not guilty on all counts of the indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They declared before the trial panel that there is no evidence supporting the SPO\u2019s claims of war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West has requested a 45-year prison sentence for each of the former KLA leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi face charges brought by the Office of the Specialist Prosecutor, which they have described as unfounded. The defense has also dismissed these charges and argued that the KLA did not have an organized command structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trial against them began on April 3, 2023\u2014nearly three years after the indictment was confirmed, during which the former KLA leaders have been held in the detention center in The Hague.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, stated that he is completely innocent of the charges brought by the Office of the Specialist Prosecutor in The Hague. In his address before the trial panel, he said there is only one truth: that the charges do not hold. At the beginning of his speech, Thaci congratulated the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":80551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[301,296],"tags":[5928,4864],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80552,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80550\/revisions\/80552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}