TIRANA, Oct 29 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday reiterated his support for former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders currently on trial in The Hague, sharing comments from former U.S. diplomat James P. Rubin, who stated that their conviction without evidence would be a “tragedy.”
“Freedom has a name,” Rama wrote, citing Rubin’s remarks in an interview for the Balkans Debrief podcast, in which he said it would be “a real tragedy for Kosovo and for international justice” if Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi were found guilty without proof.
“I pray this does not happen,” Rubin said. “Some of these individuals fought and some died for freedom. If they are declared guilty without evidence, the damage would be profound – not only for Kosovo, but for the credibility of international courts.”
Rubin, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, testified in September in defense of Thaçi, calling his nearly five-year pre-trial detention “unfair.”
The four former senior KLA figures have been on trial since April 2023 before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have all pleaded not guilty.
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