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Prime Minister Edi Rama today participated in the promotion of the book "When Silence Speaks" by author Ahmet Shala in Pristina.
The book is dedicated to the war crimes trial in The Hague against former KLA leaders, and the injustices he says they faced during the 5-year process.
Rama stated in his speech that the KLA has no connection with terror, adding that Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi armed themselves against a policy of extermination.
"Those four men did not arm themselves to build a policy of extermination, but they armed themselves against a policy of extermination. They did not arm themselves to impose their rule on a foreign territory, but they armed themselves to get rid of the rule of foreigners on their land. And in fact, they only with their own hand voted in the Assembly a court, which on paper is a court of Kosovo, it is not a court to put Kosovo in the dock. The court has the last word, a very long-term plan that started with the infamous Dick Martin report, on organ trafficking by the KLA leadership. That plan was pushed forward by Putin's representatives in the Council of Europe, and further it was based on a CoE resolution, which does not find the courage to review, since no type of organ trafficking has been proven in any form. That plan started even further with a court, with a trial that came into being the day Thaçi was set to "Washington has turned away from a meeting where another step would be taken to normalize relations with Serbia under the auspices of the then and current president, Trump, as clearly other forces did not want that to happen and from that moment on, the president of Kosovo has been taken hostage," Rama said.
The trial of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army is in the final stages, towards the decision that will be given by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers panel.
They are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. The crimes are alleged to have been committed between March 1998 and September of the following year, in several locations in Kosovo and northern Albania.
Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, former parliamentarians Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former MP Rexhep Selimi have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They have been in the Hague detention center since November 2020.
Chief Prosecutor Kimberly West said they are accused of criminal acts that constitute war crimes: unlawful or arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and unlawful killing; as well as crimes against humanity: imprisonment, other inhumane acts, enforced disappearance of persons and persecution, and requested 45 years in prison for each of them.
During the past week, the trial panel was briefed on the closing statements of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, the Victims' Advocate, and the defense teams of the former KLA superiors.
The indictment was confirmed on October 26, 2020, and on November 5 of the same year, the defendants were transferred to the detention center in The Hague. The trial began on April 3, 2023.
Prosecutors alleged that the defendants were part of a “joint criminal enterprise” that had targeted perceived opponents of the KLA. In his opening statement, prosecutor Alex Whiting said that most of the victims were Kosovo Albanians.
The defense objected, emphasizing that the KLA had no centralized command. Thaçi pleaded not guilty, denying the charge of organ trafficking, raised earlier by Dick Marty's report to the Council of Europe (2011).
From April 2023 to December 2025, the parties presented evidence and witnesses. The prosecution brought 125 witnesses, while 117 others submitted written testimonies.
Defense witnesses were James Rubin, Christopher Hill, and Wesley Clark, who argued that Thaçi had a political role, the KLA did not have a functional chain of command, and that it was not a terrorist organization.
Thaçi, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi have received support from Prime Minister Edi Rama, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and their comrades, who organized protests in The Hague, Tirana, Skopje and Pristina.
Closing statements are expected to last until February 18. After them, the case moves to the trial panel, which has three months to make a decision.
The Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office were established in 2015 by the Kosovo Assembly. They are part of the Kosovo judicial system, but operate with international staff in the Netherlands. The Specialist Court investigated alleged crimes committed by members of the KLA against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.
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