Invalid “Design”, “The unfair specialist”, reactions after Salih Mustafa was sentenced to 26 years in prison

Court for Victims

Today's “Decision represents a victory for justice, and in particular, for the victims of Salih Mustaf and their families, all Kosovo Albanians whose personal tragedies were at the heart of this case, and who have suffered for more than two decades because of Mr. Mustafa,” said Whiting after declaring the verdict as guilty by the court. According to him, the establishment of the Special Court has enabled victims to tell their stories and take justice.

“The witness testimony of witnesses who gave their trust to the Specialised Chambers to bring justice had a decisive impact on the decision, and I applauded the extraordinary courage of those who came out to testify in court,” said the task of the specialised prosecutor.

With today's decision, the Specialised Chambers have indicated that they are a court for victims and around victims and that there is no expiration date for the account's handling”, prosecutor Whiting said.

Kurti: An Intriguing Decision

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called the verdict for the condemnation of the indignant Sali Mustaf, saying that “lord Mustafa has defended his country and the fight of any people against invaders and occupants is universal right”.

There are thousands of killers from Serbia who have never been convicted or tried for the atrocities they committed in the Balkans. Only 26 Serbs have been convicted of over 12,000 deaths and more than 20,000 sexually violated in Kosovo. It would be that each of the Serb convicts killed more than 462 Albanians on average and violated 770 targets. Yet they have received sentences much easier than the one given today to Salih Mustaf, who has fought, not to invade, but to free his country”, writes in his reaction Prime Minister Kurti.

According to him, the “verdict is indignation. What is the message that this verdict gives to Ukrainians today who fight the aggressor? Prime Minister Kurti remains hopeful that independent justice institutions will understand injustice and reflect on the other steps of judgment”.

An Unrighteous Decision

Other institutions officials and political parties' representatives have also described Sali Mustaf's sentence as unfair, hoping for his annulment, following the appeal that would be made by Mr. Mustafa's defence side. The minister of defence in the Kosovo government, Armend Mehaj, said the “Special Court is an unfair court, while the Kosovo Liberation Army defended the people and its” land.

The trial is unfair, without basis. The KLA is one of the most perfect, most organised armies for the protection of its home, family and land. From professional but personal angles, it is produced by Serbia and their friends. I believe in justice and the right steps will also be taken for support by the government and other partners”, Mehe said.

The largest ruling party, the Vetevendosje movement, said Sali Mustaf's sentence is unacceptable, stressing that “The aggression of the aggressor with the defender, is things we will never accept”. Vetevendosje hopes the decision will be annulled to the level of Appeal.

“Salih Mustafa has been a freedom fighter. He and his friends at the KLA committed themselves to protecting the Albanian nation, which Serbia wanted to eliminate from Kosovo during years of occupation. Salih Mustafa's sentence by the Special Court to 26 years in prison is unacceptable to us. We hope that on the scale of the former fighter Salih Mustafa to be acquitted of charges, which appear to have evidence and evidence of his direct responsibilities”, the Vetevendosje response, which in 2015 was the only political subject to vote against the establishment of the Special Court, is said.

Special Solutions and Experiments

“We believe that Kosovo does not need special solutions and experiments, but normal institutions like any other country. Even our justice should stem from the functioning of normal courts and not by establishing special trials”, the Vetevendosje party said.

Sali Musfata's 26-year sentence on the Special Court, the president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Memli Krasniqi, singled out a serious decision hoping that the <x0vediction will be corrected in the second degree”, because according to him, “thus, the seriousness of the court” will be proven.

The war of the Kosovo Liberation Army has been fair, inevitable and necessary” Those words of Salih Mustafa, Cal, before the court are the words of each of us who have experienced Serbia's savage conquest. It is the reality of Kosovo's history, which no attempt can change and rewrite”, Krasniqi said in his response.

This decision today, we hope, will be corrected to the second degree, to testify to the seriousness and impartiality of the Court. Justice we have always trusted, and justice, inevitable, sometimes, must and will find its real way”, Memli Krasniqi said.

Haradinaj: KLA War, Pure War

Former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, one of the former KLA commanders who himself several years ago faced the next International Court in The Hague, of which he was acquitted, said the KLA's “fighting for the country's freedom has been a clean fight”.

Ramush Haradinaj, former commander KLA, faced with International Court of The Hague itself several years ago

I strongly believe in KLA innocence. Kosovo has accepted justice as the mechanism for removing all dilemmas that the KLA's fight for the country's freedom has been a clean fight”, Ramush Haradinaj wrote.

The Special Court's decision, which sentenced to 26 years the removal of former Kosovo Liberation Army Commander Salih Mustafa, is the institution's first decision regarding war crimes investigations in Kosovo.

The Special Court in The Hague has been held for about two years accused of war crimes, including former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, former head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Kadri Veselin, former KLA member General Staff, Rexhep Selimi, former spokeswoman KLA, Jakup Krasniqi, other former member of KLA, Peter Shala. According to the prosecution of Specialised Chambers, Thaci, Veselin, Krasniqi, Selimi, and Shala are suspected of criminal acts involving war crimes: illegal or arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and unlawful murder, and crimes against humanity: imprisonment, other inhuman acts, forced extinction of persons and persecution, which, according to the Specialised Chambers, were committed between March 1998 and September 1999. All of them have claimed to be innocent of the charges weighing on them. /DW