Former Kosovo Parliament Speaker Jakup Krasniqi delivered his closing statement in The Hague, strongly defending his role during and after the Kosovo conflict and denouncing the Special Prosecution’s charges as unjust.
Krasniqi emphasized that for over five years, his human rights have been denied, particularly the right to live freely, with dignity, near his family, and in his free homeland:
“For more than five years, I have been denied human rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, most importantly the right to live in freedom, especially for a person in the final stage of life, to spend his remaining years with dignity, near family, in a free homeland.”
He called the years of detention unjust and unnecessary, stating that he never endangered anyone’s life:
“This was done without causing harm to anyone, without endangering a single person’s life. On the contrary, I risked my own life, not only during the liberation war but from as early as 1972-1973,” Krasniqi said.
He concluded by framing himself not as a criminal, as the prosecution alleges, but as a man shaped by decades of struggle for human dignity:
“I stand here today before you, not as a criminal as described by the Prosecution, but as a person born and forged in wars for human dignity by a people who refused to be erased by the policies of crime and genocide of Serbia.”
Krasniqi’s statement highlights the broader historical and moral context of the Kosovo conflict, asserting that the prosecution’s narrative seeks to misrepresent the fight for freedom and discredit the UÇK leadership.
