The NEWBORN monument — the symbol of February 17 and the birth of the state of Kosovo — was symbolically “imprisoned” on Sunday evening after the completion of its annual repainting.
Activists from the civic platform “Liria ka emër” (“Freedom Has a Name”) surrounded the monument with iron fencing, transforming the iconic symbol of freedom and independence into the image of a prison.
A sign bearing the logo of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers was also placed on the fence, alongside the inscription: “Kosova e burgosur!” (“Kosovo Imprisoned!”).
Eliza Hoxha, representing the organization, stated that the action was a civic response to what they consider a historic injustice affecting the very foundations of the state.
According to Hoxha, the symbolic imprisonment of NEWBORN reflects the sense of injustice that citizens feel regarding the ongoing judicial proceedings at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
“With the inscription ‘Kosovo Imprisoned,’ we are expressing our indignation over these processes, where our history, our war for freedom, and the state-building process of Kosovo are being judged,” she said.
Currently detained in The Hague for nearly five years are Hashim Thaçi — the former president and prime minister who read Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence and led the state-building process — along with former parliamentary speakers Jakup Krasniqi and Kadri Veseli, as well as former MP Rexhep Selimi, figures widely regarded by supporters as key actors in Kosovo’s resistance and independence movement.
