Ardian Arifaj, former adviser to former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, has described the judicial process against former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) as “horrific,” stating that it has completely deviated from the mission for which it was established and is turning into a politically motivated court.
Arifaj criticized the demands and procedures used over the years, emphasizing the lack of concrete evidence linking the accused to criminal acts. He said the process is damaging the aspirations of the people of Kosovo for freedom, equality, and justice.
“If I were to describe the entire process in one word especially how it is culminating with what we are seeing today and with today’s statements it would be ‘horror.’ It is horrifying that in 21st-century Europe we are witnessing such a political process with political motives, a process that has completely gone off track from the path and purpose for which it was created. It has turned into a process against all of Kosovo, against the aspirations of the people of Kosovo for freedom, equality, justice, and everything that has been achieved by the people of Kosovo, including in partnership and alliance with the West,” Arifaj said.
Regarding the request by Chief Prosecutor Kimberly West for 45-year prison sentences for each of the accused, Arifaj described it as illogical and unacceptable.
“First of all, it is an unacceptable request. It is a demand that offers no indication of logic. We immediately saw comparisons being made with sentences handed down in other cases, which have always been significantly lower—and those were cases where the defendants were actually found guilty. What is more important here is that we believe there was no justification even for five years of pretrial detention, let alone any basis suggesting responsibility on the part of these four individuals. From what we have seen so far, not a single criminal act has been proven that links them to the allegations. Even today, in the closing arguments, prosecutors are relying more on assumptions and attempts to construct a narrative rather than presenting concrete facts. Over all these years, no concrete evidence has been presented,” he said.
Arifaj stated that he expects acquittals at the end of the process, emphasizing that the court has deviated from its original purpose, which he said was to clear the name of the KLA.
“Absolutely, yes. There has been no evidence presented. Moreover, this has turned into a political court that has completely deviated from the objective for which it was established. The court was created to remove the stigma from the name of the KLA. We remember the Dick Marty report, which cast very dark shadows over the KLA. The idea behind establishing this court was to remove those stains and deliver a final truth about the KLA and what happened during the war in Kosovo—not to completely deviate and attempt to change the narrative about why the KLA emerged, what it did, and how Kosovo achieved freedom,” Arifaj said.
He called for politics to stay out of the process and for decisions to be made solely on factual grounds.
“This is a process—one that I can hardly even call a court—that has completely deviated from its mission and assumed a purely political role. This makes it extremely difficult to believe that politics is not involved, and it strengthens our demand that politics remain outside this process and that this institution focus solely on justice, issuing decisions based on facts rather than political preferences,” he added.
Chief Prosecutor of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, Kimberly West, has requested individual sentences of 45 years in prison for Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi, asking the court to consider the weight of each defendant’s actions.
Former President Hashim Thaçi, former parliamentary speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former Vetëvendosje parliamentary group leader Rexhep Selimi are accused of participating in a joint criminal enterprise related to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The defendants have denied all charges, stating that the KLA did not operate under such a centralized hierarchy and that its objective was to fight Serbian forces, not civilians.
