Sopi in The Hague: Salih Mustafa has practiced no violence against anyone, he has experienced torture by the Serbian state

On the second day of his testimony to Kosovo's Specialised Chambers in The Hague, Sopi has said that during the war there has never been a political obstacle to the orientation of KLA soldiers.

This could never happen. Even before the war, I have known him as a former political prisoner and one who has experienced the most inhuman torture of Serbian power, and I never believe that the same man can commit violence to someone for no reason whatsoever and for no reason... Never in my life have I heard such a thing about my fellow warrior, Mr. Salih Mustafa”, Sopi said.

Sopi has said the goal of the KLA war has only been to free the country from Serb forces.

“under no circumstances and in no form has the political orientation of the KLA soldier been an obstacle, the purpose of the war is to bring about the country's liberation, while for political beliefs we at the time have not been interested in”, he has said.

Sopi has answered the questions of Salih Mustaf's defence lawyer, Julius Von Bone, who has told him that the KLA has not been a regular army so there has been no uniform for all soldiers.

But, he added, the KLA uniform has been misused by Serb paramilitary forces.

The NLA's “Uniform in many cases has even been misused, has been misused especially by the paramilitary and Serb military forces who under the NLA uniform have committed horrible massacres. I'm mentioning only one case that I have in mind when members of the Serbian units in uniform of the KLA in Pec entered a youth bar and killed all those members of their own nation, Serbian members, in order to blame the KLA and international opinion on him as a terrorist organisation because he was committing terror, crimes. As for the uniform we've been holding we haven't been completely complete”, Sopi said.

During his testimony, Sopi has said KLA soldiers made guards in front of buildings where headquarterss or KLA units were located, and that IDs or presentations were required for unknown persons to enter.

Until being asked about the April 1999 period, Sopi has said neither he nor Salih Mustafa have been able to stay in a country since he had to deal with positions and preparations for combat operations.

He has said he cannot remember Mustafa sending medical staff to Zlath in April 1999.

Sopi has said that since April 7, 1999, he has been engaged in the duty of commander of combat operations in the Future Zone and that until the second offensive, which was April 18th, he has rarely returned to the village of Zlath.

Fatmir Sopi is the 11th witness who is being heard in the judicial process against Salih Mustaf, and the hearing is being held open to the public.

He said he had joined. U n The CK has been hosting the Gollak region since its beginnings in 1998, while today it is chairman of the KLA War Veterans Organisation in Pristina.

The trial, which began on September 15th 2021, is the first in Kosovo's Specialised Chambers in The Hague, while ten protected witnesses of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office have been heard so far.

The Act against Mustafa, who is the first arrested by the Special, was confirmed on June 12th 2020, as he was arrested on September 24th last year, with the claim of war crimes. / KP