Tears and Jeers for Kosovo War Leaders’ Courtroom Drama in The Hague

Throughout the opening day on Monday, Albanians wearing the traditional plis cap or T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Liria ka emer" ("Freedom has a name") made their voices heard in the Dutch city as opening statements were delivered in the trial of Thaci and his wartime comrades turned politicians, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

"Here is where our heroes are, so here is where we will be," Tahir Citaku, one of the first protesters to show up in front of the court early on Monday morning, told BIRN. Later that day, holding an Albanian flag, Citaku explained that he had come all the way from Basel in Switzerland to support the wartime KLA leaders.

As prosecutors read out the charges against them, accusing them of a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Citaku referred to how many Kosovo Albanians perceive Thaci, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi as liberators for their role in the resistance to Yugoslav military and Serbian police during the 1998-99 conflict. "We hope that justice will prevail," he said.

It was a view echoed by other protesters in The Hague. "We have come to tell the Hague court that they are holding our liberators, who are not guilty," said Nevaip Zyberi, another ethnic Albanian living in the Swiss city of Basel. "We hope that the truth will finally come out and our liberators will be released," he added.

"It is similar to when we were under [Serbian] occupation, people are afraid that an injustice is being done, but I don't believe this court will do an injustice because they are internationals," said Ramadan Nikaj, a Kosovo Albanian who came from Germany to join the protest.

The previous day, thousands had rallied in Kosovo's capital Pristina under the banner "Marshojme per drejtesi" (...