“Twenty-seven years have passed, and some of those in court have forgotten the fear of Milosevic’s repression of the people of Kosovo,” Clark said in a live interview with “Off the Record” talk show at A2 CNN television.

He recalled the summer of 1998, when he said more than 400,000 people were driven from their villages and Serbian forces carried out operations targeting intellectuals, lawyers and professors, as well as looting homes and committing horrendous crimes against civilians.

“People resisted, of course, but perhaps today, 27 years later, looking at what is happening with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in the Middle East, people forget. But it is not the same thing. They should not forget what happened from 1997 to 1999,” Clark said, adding that the lessons of Kosovo were important for protecting human rights.

Asked about the Hague verdict, which sentenced four former KLA leaders to a combined 81 years in prison, Clark said he had seen no evidence that justified the convictions.

“I know Thaçi and his colleagues and all those who fought. I testified at the trial and said what I had seen. I knew what was happening in Kosovo and about our cooperation with the KLA, and I saw no evidence to justify this kind of decision,” Clark said.

He acknowledged that the court had issued its ruling but said the appeals process would be difficult.

Clark also questioned the significance of evidence that had been kept secret from him during the proceedings.

“These secret testimonies, where even I was not shown any evidence from the prosecution, would not have changed my mind,” he said.

Clark said he had met Hashim Thaçi three times during the conflict, including at the Rambouillet talks, and later in Kosovo.

“The KLA and what was happening there was a rebellion against an authoritarian regime,” he said, adding that individual crimes had also been committed by Serbs against their Albanian neighbours.

Clark said he had also described in court the strong emotions within communities where people who had lived alongside each other for years felt betrayed by their neighbours.

He said he believed Thaçi had made a significant effort to protect the innocent Serbian population, including those living north of the Iber River.

“I had concerns about what could happen later, but I could not say that Thaçi was someone who should be convicted of war crimes,” Clark said.

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Clark said that in 2020 he did not know exactly what Thaçi was being accused of. He had heard of organ trafficking claims, but he considers this accusation to be simply disinformation.

According to the US general, Thaçi was an ambitious and articulate person, but he did not have control over Kosovo Liberation Army.

Further on, the prosecutor asked whether the charges against Hashim Thaçi are substantial or not and the American general emphasized that the charges are not substantial.

General Clark was the seventh and final witness for Hashim Thaçi’s defense.

The final submissions, as well as statements on the impact of the alleged crimes on the victims, are expected to be submitted by December 22, 2025.

Four protests rallies were held in support of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army in Prishtina, The Hague, Tirana, and the last one was in Strasbourg.

The four former KLA leaders have been held in custody at The Hague for 5 years, since November 5, 2020. They are accused of alleged war crimes; to which they have pleaded not guilty. /KosovaPress/p.s./

Former General Clark said that he had met Hashim Thaçi several times during Rambouillet peace talks in 1999.

He said that Thaçi was not the military commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

He further stated that he had even asked Thaçi to explain to him where the Serbian army was and where the KLA was, in order to avoid targeting civilians during the NATO bombing campaign. But, “he did not give me any answers,” Clark said.

General Clark was asked about tensions between Serbs and Albanians in July 1999 in the city of Mitrovica. He said that, “There was pressure to get Albanians out of the northern part of the Ibër River, Serbian attempts to clear the northern part of the Ibër from Albanians.

Further on, Clark said that Thaçi was not the man in charge of the KLA, but he had only limited influence over local commanders.

According to him, the KLA was not an organized army, but there were groups of fighters at the regional and local level “who had gathered to protect their communities”.

The trial at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague against Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selim is near the end. All of them deny charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1998–1999 war. /rel/p.s./