The Organization of War Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army (OVL-KLA) has called for a nationwide protest tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. in Skënderbeu Square in Pristina, following yesterday’s verdict against four former KLA leaders, which the organization has described as unjust.
Gazmend Syla of the OVL-KLA announced at a press conference that war veterans’ organizations have decided to organize the protest, while also announcing the presentation of a platform opposing the verdict.
According to Syla, the OVL-KLA, together with associations representing the families of fallen soldiers and the association of war invalids, will present the platform today at 4:30 p.m.
Syla said the platform will call for the establishment of a national coordinating council and the development of a strategy to oppose the verdict through the conclusion of the appeals process.
“We also want to inform you that the organizations emerging from the war, at the meeting we held earlier today with the governing council, decided to call for a nationwide protest tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. in Skënderbeu Square. Also, today at 4:30 p.m., the OVL-KLA, together with two other associations representing the families of fallen soldiers and the association of war invalids, will present the platform I mentioned earlier. We invite you to attend as well. We will join the protest and the call made by the students who are protesting today, and we will be there with them at 4:30 p.m.,” Syla said.
Syla also announced that tomorrow’s protest will be peaceful and without masks.
“You know, yesterday’s decision is not the only unjust decision. Our fellow fighters, former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, filled the prisons during the UNMIK period, along with former KLA leaders… The protest we are organizing tomorrow will be peaceful, non-violent, without masks, with our faces. We have plenty to show; our faces are honest, and we have absolutely no need to wear masks at the protest,” Syla added.
Speaking about yesterday’s verdict, Syla said that, according to the OVL-KLA, it has condemned the liberation war and created a balance between the events of 1998–1999.
Syla said that the platform will also call for a strategy opposing the verdict through the conclusion of the appeals process, with the involvement of state institutions, parliamentary parties, and civil society.
