PRISTINA: Thousands of Kosovo war veterans staged a protest rally Thursday against a war crimes court in The Hague that they accused of “distorting history” over its prosecution of former guerilla leaders.
Chanting the Kosovo Liberation Army name and waving flags bearing the symbols of ethnic Albanian guerrillas, protesters filled a central square in Pristina and streets around the government headquarters.
“The special court is biased, anti-KLA and anti-Kosovo,” Hysni Gucati, head of the veterans organization, told the crowd.
“The court has deviated from its mission and is distorting history,” he said.
Several ex-military figures, including former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, are being prosecuted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during and after the 1998-1999 Kosovo war between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serbian forces.
The conflict, which ended after a NATO air campaign ousted Serbian military and police from the territory, left around 13,000 people dead, mostly ethnic Albanian civilians.
Kosovo courts have prosecuted war crimes by Albanians and Serbs in the past, but the special court was set up in The Hague due to the difficulty in securing witnesses for trials against prominent KLA leaders at home.
A court in Pristina is preparing to try dozens of Serb police and military officers for one of the worst massacres of the war, in which 370 civilians were killed.
Opponents of the special court decry the use of evidence supplied by Serbian authorities however.
The tribunal, staffed by international judges, has pursued several KLA members since 2023. Apart from Thaci, other senior figures being prosecuted include former intelligence chief, Kadri Veseli, a regional commander Rexhep Selimi and KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi.
All are considered KLA founders and enjoy great popularity within the ranks of the former guerrillas, but are accused of war crimes.
“Our history is being rewritten by the court,” said Gazmend Syla, vice president of the War Veterans Organization. “This shakes the foundations of our state.”
Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s independence, and talks to normalize relations between the neighbors have all but collapsed.
Kosovo ex-guerrillas rally against war crimes court
https://arab.news/v2tw6
Kosovo ex-guerrillas rally against war crimes court
- Hysni Gucati: ‘The court has deviated from its mission and is distorting history’
- Special court was set up in The Hague due to the difficulty in securing witnesses for trials against prominent KLA leaders at home
At least three dead as migrant boat capsizes off Greek island
- An accident occurred when the vessel approached the migrants’ wooden boat
- The search for survivors was continuing with four patrol boats
ATHENS: The bodies of three migrants were picked up in waters off the Greek island of Crete during a rescue effort involving a commercial ship, authorities said Friday.
Twenty migrants were rescued by the commercial vessel which was directed to the area on the orders of the Greek Search and Rescue Center.
According to Greek public broadcaster ERT, an accident occurred when the vessel approached the migrants’ wooden boat. As the passengers tried to climb up ladders into the vessel a sudden movement caused the small boat to capsize.
The search for survivors was continuing with four patrol boats, an aircraft, and two ships from the European border agency Frontex, a spokesperson for the Greek coast guard told AFP.
According to ERT, survivors said about 50 people were aboard the wooden boat.
A second boat carrying around forty migrants was spotted in the area, triggering another rescue operation.
For over a year, migrants have been attempting the perilous crossing from Libya to Crete, the gateway to the European Union.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 16,770 people seeking asylum in the EU arrived in Crete in 2025.
Faced with the surge in arrivals, the conservative Greek government suspended the processing of asylum applications for three months last summer, particularly for those arriving from Libya.
UNHCR says 107 people died or went missing in Greek waters in 2025.
