The Mayor of Tirana, Shkëlqim Hajdari, stated that former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army are being held unjustly in The Hague, saying that there is no convincing evidence for the charges brought by the Special Prosecution.

During a meeting held in Prishtina, at the Organization of the KLA War Veterans, Hajdari said that the trial against the former KLA leaders does not contain elements of European justice.

Hajdari emphasized that they hope for justice for the liberators, because, according to him, “a whole nation is waiting for them.”

“We hope for their justice. A whole nation is waiting for them. It is not only Kosovo that is waiting, but Albania, North Macedonia, Albanians in Europe, Albanians in America. Ten million Albanians are waiting for justice for the liberators. It can never happen that the victim is equated with the aggressors. The witnesses presented by the four leaders of Kosovo’s liberation war were potential witnesses, starting with the former highest officials of the United States of America, officials of law enforcement agencies, and politicians of unquestionable integrity, who told the judges and prosecutors that these four men are being held unjustly in prison,” Hajdari added.

The Chairman of the KLA War Veterans Organization (OVL-UÇK), Hysni Gucati, said that the Albanian people did not commit crimes, but rather the Serbian paramilitaries, who committed over 465 massacres against Albanian civilians.

“We did not commit crimes here, crimes were committed by the army, police, and Serbian paramilitaries, over 465 massacres, 13,500 citizens killed, 1,324 children killed from the age of 7 days to 15 years old. That means the aggressor was there, the executioner was there, we were not executioners,” Gucati continued.

Meanwhile, Shkëlqim Hajdari welcomed the decoration awarded by OVL-UÇK and praised it highly, stressing that Tirana has stood by Kosovo since the very beginning of the armed resistance of the KLA.

“This award goes to the entire people of the capital, because Tirana is not just the capital of Albania, but the capital of all Albanians. Tirana has stood by Kosovo since the very beginning of the open armed resistance of the KLA. Tirana, just like other areas of Albania, Kukës, and Skopje, became a place that hosted a large number of people displaced by Serbian genocide. And later, Tirana is the city that has its own martyrs in Kosovo, and for this reason I feel deeply happy that this decoration goes to the martyrs of Tirana and all of Albania who fell in the liberation war in Kosovo and North Macedonia,” Hajdari said.

The meeting between them ended with an agreement that cooperation between the parties will continue further.