Pristina Orders KLA Flags in Schools After Thaci Verdict

Pristina’s Education Directorate ordered all public schools in the city on September 17 to fly a flag of the so called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) at their main entrance, alongside the Kosovo flag. The letter to school principals was signed by the Directorate’s head, Arijan (Arianit) Eljsani, a day after the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague handed down first instance sentences of 25 years each to Hashim Thaci and Jakup Krasniqi, 18 years to Kadri Veseli, and 13 years to Rexhep Selimi, for war crimes. The verdict is not final.

In the letter, cited by KoSSev, Eljsani states that schools are not only places of learning but also spaces where the “historical and civic memory” of new generations is formed.

“The KLA is an inseparable part of the history of Kosovo’s liberation. Its struggle and sacrifice for the country’s freedom represent an important chapter of our recent history and, as such, are part of the collective memory of our society,” the letter reads.

The same Directorate had already asked, on September 16, ahead of the verdict itself, that the first class in all of Pristina’s public schools be dedicated to the KLA and to the “history of the liberation war.”

Srpske Novine reported yesterday on the incidents near the EULEX base in Kosovo Polje. The protest, which began immediately after the verdict was announced, lasted more than twelve hours. Part of the crowd headed toward the base again around 10:30 p.m., blocking the road between Pristina and Kosovo Polje and throwing solid objects and fireworks at the compound, which sparked a small fire that was extinguished without further damage. The protest ended around 12:20 a.m., with no demonstrators or police officers injured. Two people had been detained earlier in the day, and a prosecutor ordered 48 hours of police custody for one of them.

Incidents were also recorded outside the Kosovo government building, where windows were smashed and a protective fence torn down, as well as in The Hague, where part of the crowd clashed with Dutch police outside the Specialist Chambers building. One police officer was lightly injured, two people were arrested, and police used a water cannon and pepper spray.

Students at the University of Pristina continued their protests at noon on September 17. KLA veterans’ organizations announced they would join them at 4:30 p.m., together with associations of the families of fallen fighters and war invalids, when their platform for further steps was also expected to be presented. A gathering that organizers are calling a nationwide protest has been scheduled for noon on September 18 at Skanderbeg Square in Pristina. Gazmend Silja, president of the KLA War Veterans Organization (OVL OVK), also announced an initiative to form a so called national coordination council that, he said, would include Albania, as well as Albanians from Montenegro and the Presevo Valley, and the diaspora.

Alongside the street protests, an institutional front has also opened. Lawmakers have begun collecting signatures to convene a session of the Kosovo Assembly to discuss abolishing the Specialist Chambers. Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Bedri Hamza said, ahead of a meeting of the party’s presidency and parliamentary group, that no option was being ruled out.

“We will discuss the situation in detail. All democratic and legal avenues are an option,” Hamza said.

After the meeting, Hamza said there was consensus within the PDK that the verdict was “unjust” and “not grounded in the facts,” and announced talks with the leaders of other parties to reach a common position.

The jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers is set out in Article 162 of Kosovo’s Constitution. If abolishing the court required amending its constitutional basis, the standard procedure for amendments would apply: a proposal can be submitted by the government, the president, or at least 30 of the assembly’s 120 lawmakers, and adoption requires at least 80 votes, including a separate two thirds majority among the 20 lawmakers representing non majority communities. A similar attempt was made in December 2017, when 43 lawmakers launched an initiative to repeal the law establishing the court, and the European Union and the U.S. State Department warned at the time that it would jeopardize Kosovo’s commitments to Brussels.

Reactions have not been unanimous. Assembly Deputy Speaker Mimoza Kusari Ljilja called for the immediate use of the appeals mechanism instead of hasty moves, saying the verdict was simultaneously a legal, political, and state matter that required coordination rather than a partisan contest. The Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) described the verdict as one of the most difficult moments for Kosovo society and called for the Appeals Chamber to act independently and impartially, rather than clashing with the court itself.

Last night, the sons of two of the convicted men, Endrit Thaci and Klestor Veseli, arrived at “Adem Jashari” Airport, where several dozen citizens were waiting to greet them. Endrit Thaci told reporters:

“It is a criminal court, but we believe that after the appeal the innocent will return.”

Lawyers for all four convicted men have announced they will appeal the first instance verdict. The next date that will shape what follows is September 18, when the announced protest at Skanderbeg Square is scheduled, and the deadline by which the PDK says it will settle on an official party position on the initiative to abolish the court.