PRISTINA, Sept 18 /ATA/ The Organisation of War Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army (OVL-UÇK) has called for a nationwide protest in Pristina on Friday, following the verdict handed down against four former KLA leaders at The Hague.
The protest is due to begin at 12:00 hrs noon in Skënderbeu Square, with OVL-UÇK saying it will be peaceful.
Gazmend Syla of OVL-UÇK announced the protest a day earlier, saying the decision had been made following a meeting of the organisation’s Steering Council.
“Our protest tomorrow will be peaceful and non-violent. We will not wear masks; we will stand there with our faces uncovered. We have nothing to hide and plenty to say. We are proud to show our faces, and there is simply no need for masks at the protest,” Syla said.
The OVL-UÇK has contested the verdict handed down against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, calling it unjust.
Syla said the organisation believes the ruling was intended to equate the KLA’s war with the events that took place in 1998–1999.
Syla said the verdict unfairly condemned the KLA’s war for liberation, arguing that the organisation represented the resistance of a people experiencing expulsions, massacres and the threat of extinction.
War veterans’ organisations have also announced plans to establish a national coordinating council and a platform aimed at challenging the verdict throughout the appeals process.
According to Syla, the initiative aims to involve Kosovo’s institutions, parliamentary parties, civil society, Albania, Albanians in North Macedonia and the Preševo Valley, as well as the diaspora.
/Kosovapress/sm/
