The Kosovo Assembly has adopted, with 99 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions, the Declaration concerning the judgment of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers against the former leaders of the KLA.
Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu announced that the text of the declaration had previously been harmonized among all parliamentary groups.
“We have a draft agreed upon by all parliamentary groups. I appreciate the fact that the Assembly is united regarding this decision,” Haxhiu said.
The proposed declaration contains seven points and expresses the Assembly’s concern regarding the judgment against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.
In the document, the Assembly considers unacceptable the finding regarding the existence of a common criminal purpose and calls on Kosovo’s institutions to undertake coordinated legal, institutional and diplomatic actions to protect what it describes as the historical truth of the liberation war.
The points of the declaration:
1. The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, as the representative institution of citizens and an expression of their democratic will, expresses its deep concern regarding the first-instance judgment against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.
2. It considers unacceptable the finding regarding the existence of a common criminal purpose.
3. It CALLS ON all state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to undertake all necessary actions to protect the truth and the integrity of the liberation war of the people of Kosovo. The Assembly calls for the drafting of a joint state strategy, within which legal, institutional and diplomatic actions would be coordinated to protect and affirm the full historical truth about the just war for the freedom and liberation of Kosovo.
4. In Kosovo in 1998–1999, the existence of a joint criminal enterprise to expel Albanians from Kosovo has already been established through judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia against the political, military and police leadership of Yugoslavia and Serbia. It was carried out through the structures of a state that controlled the army, police and other instruments of power. This is the historical and judicial context that must remain clear whenever the war in Kosovo is discussed.
5. It calls on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers to respect its mandate in accordance with the will of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.
6. It OPPOSES any attempt to overturn Kosovo’s historical truth, to question its liberation war, or to equate the people who fought for freedom and survival with the regime that oppressed them.
7. The truth of the liberation war, justice for the victims and their families, and the right of the convicted persons to a fair trial belong to the same Republic. The Assembly will protect all three without compromise.
