The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, reacted after the first instance decision of the Specialized Chambers in The Hague against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, describing the sentences as unfair and undeserved.
In a statement to the media, Berisha said that the decision constitutes a bad day for Albanians and especially for the families of former KLA political leaders.
"Of course, today is not a good day for Albanians, for the entire nation, for the families of the former political leaders of the Kosovo Liberation War and Kosovo, as the first instance court in The Hague communicated decisions with which it absolutely failed to substantiate anything concrete except for general statements that have been repeated dozens and hundreds of times by Belgrade propaganda," Berisha declared.
According to him, the court should have reached the opposite conclusion and declared the former KLA leaders innocent.
"It handed down completely undeserved sentences instead of declaring innocence in the courtroom in the name of justice against former political leaders of the Liberation War and Kosovo," he said.
Berisha also linked the decision to Serbia, stating that the sentences will be welcomed in Belgrade. "On this occasion, of course there will be a celebration in Serbia, in Belgrade, for these unjust sentences," said the DP leader.
Despite the Hague decision, Berisha argued that the judicial process and individual sentences against its former leaders cannot change, according to him, the character and historical importance of the KLA's war for the liberation of Kosovo.
"But nothing can darken the liberation war of the people of Kosovo that they led as the brightest page of the Albanians' wars for freedom and national dignity after the wars of Skanderbeg," Berisha declared.
He also highlighted the role of the KLA during the NATO intervention in 1999, describing it as NATO's allied force on the ground.
"The Kosovo Liberation Army fought a war in which, together with and in support of NATO, and this was NATO's ally on the ground, it liberated the last colony in Europe, Kosovo, from the barbaric Serbian occupation," Berisha concluded.
Excerpt from Berisha's speech
Of course, today is not a good day for Albanians, for the entire nation, for the families of the former political leaders of the Kosovo Liberation War and Kosovo, as the first instance court in The Hague communicated decisions with which it absolutely failed to substantiate anything concrete except for general statements that have been repeated dozens and hundreds of times by Belgrade propaganda.
It handed down completely undeserved sentences instead of declaring innocence in the courtroom in the name of justice against former political leaders of the Liberation War and Kosovo.
On this occasion, of course, there is a celebration in Serbia, in Belgrade, for these unjust sentences.
But nothing can overshadow the liberation war of the people of Kosovo that they led as the brightest page of the Albanians' wars for freedom and national dignity after the wars of Skanderbeg.
The Kosovo Liberation Army fought a war in which, together with and in support of NATO, and this was NATO's ally on the ground, it liberated the last colony in Europe, Kosovo, from the barbaric Serbian occupation.
