Kosovo war veterans and thousands of their supporters gathered Friday in the Albanian capital, Tirana, in a protest against a European Union-backed court prosecuting their former fighters who waged the 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia, claiming the tribunal is biased and unjust.
Demonstrators from Kosovo and other European countries filled Tirana’s main Skanderbeg Square in support of arrested former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army—a former Kosovo Albanian guerrilla group that led the fight for independence.
The protest was organized by the veterans’ association known as OVL-UCK and supported by Albania’s government and prime minister.
Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaci, former Parliament speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and ex-lawmaker Rexhep Selimi are on trial and have been in custody since 2020 at the EU-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers court based in The Hague, Netherlands. They face charges that include murder, torture, and persecution of civilians during and after the war.
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