Albanians Rally for ‘Liberators’ Outside Hague War Crimes Court

"We refuse to have our history distorted," one protester said when he took loud speaker in his hand to address the protest.

Tahir Citaku made a trip of more than 700 kilometres from the Swiss city of Basel to The Hague to protest against the trial.

 Tahir Citaku. Photo: BIRN.

"We have come to protect out liberators, our people who have protected [us] and have been unjustly taken [into custody]," Citaku told BIRN. "We hope that justice will prevail," he added.

Thaci, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi were senior figures in the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA guerrilla organisation during the war and were involved in leading the fight against the Yugoslav Army, Serbian police and paramilitaries, and all became senior politicians in the post-war period.

They have a lot of support among Kosovo Albanians in their home country, where thousands joined a demonstration against the trial in Pristina on Sunday.

Albanian diaspora protest in front of the Hague court. Photo: BIRN.

Nevaip Zyberi, who comes from an Albanian-speaking area of North Macedonia, also travelled to The Hague from Basel in Switzerland.

"We have come to tell Hague court that they are holding our liberators who are not guilty. We hope that the truth will finally come out and our liberators be released," Zyberi told BIRN.

Bajram Lushaku, who came from Frankfurt in Germany, said he does not expect "anything good" from the court.

A banner depicting Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli and the KLA emblem. Photo: BIRN.

"Instead of bringing criminals here from Belgrade who committed terrible massacres in Kosovo, they have brought our liberators who fought in their [own] country," Lushaku told BIRN.

"For me, this court is purely political, it...