“Requesting justice for former KLA leaders” Pristina Assembly marks 18th anniversary of independence

Chairman of Progress Rama until citing the importance of February 17th and the contribution of the freedom personalities also sought justice for former KLA leaders.

And again today, February 17th over our Kosovo. Eighteenth from the day our country breathes by its name: Republic of Kosovo. It's not a jubilular anniversary. However, 18 marks the symbolic threshold where man enters adulthood, and for natural analogy, even our country today is going to view him as an adult, with deeper responsibility and increased duties. February 17 is not just a calendar date. It's a line between ages. It's a sacrifice summary, our center and our collective belief in the sanctity of freedom. And that freedom bears names. It's got faces. It keeps stories alive. It was built on the sacrifice of political prisoners, who held on to the spirit of resistance in the worst years. It was strengthened through Ibrahim Rugova's peaceful and statehood vision. It was sealed with the blood of the Kosovo Liberation Army's liberation war and crowned with the international partnership that transformed our right into state reality. Today, on the same date as we celebrate independence, the capital becomes the voice that shouts to those who carry the worst burden of the road to freedom. The trial process at The Hague against the four leaders of the Liberation Army is now entering the closing phase. Tomorrow their final word is expected before the court, before justice is withdrawn for decision. They will be words that bear the burden of their lives, but also of our warfare; the weight of their future, but also of our future. And that, February 17 makes it so special. So today, as representatives of the capital, we are tasked with speaking clearly and saying: We seek justice. Pure justice. Justice based on uncomfortable evidence. For righteousness that is built on conjecture serves no one. While policy-ridden justice loses its “compass, Rama said, EO reports.

Rama also called on citizens to participate in the protest, to be held today by 2:00.

So I invite you that after a while we join the parade marking the age of maturity of our Kosovo as an independent state, and at 2: 00 p.m. tonight, to witness our maturity as citizens, when citizens of all of Kosovo and beyond will gather at “Justice, not political”, in protest organised by platform “Liria has a name”. That's a citizen voice. A voice of dignity. The voice of national conscience. Our presence there gives the protest institutional meaning simultaneously. Because municipal assemblies represent the will of citizens. Because the capital speaks when its representatives stand by those who opened the way to freedom. Because the country of adulthood is also measured by the way it is lined up in front of those who built it“, Rama noted.

While Parliament Speaker Fehmi Kupina singled out the country's history and KLA contribution.

We're not just here to celebrate today. We have come to remember, to humble ourselves and to testify that Kosovo's freedom has a name, has history and has a price. Today we honor the day when a small, but large people in resistance gave the world that Kosovo is free and will be free forever. Kosovo's independence was not born overnight. It was built for decades of suffering, for centuries of sacrifice, persecution, and torture in prisons, with nameless graves, with mothers waiting for their sons, and children who grew up without fathers but never lost hope. Since 1912, when the Serbian Army invaded Kosovo, systematic violence was imposed on the Albanian people. Villages were burned, families slaughtered, people were expelled from their homes only because they were Albanians. I tried to hide our language, our culture, our existence. But it never fails; it was the will for freedom. After World War II, after 1945, depression continued under another form. The Slavic-communist regime planted fear, imprisoned free opinion, and punished any voice requiring equality. Political prisons were filled with Albanians who refused to submit. They were sentenced, not for guilt, but for obedience. Political prisoners are the cleanest conscience of this country. They kept the idea of free Kosovo alive, when hope seemed impossible. In Kosovo's worst time, we also had a great guide: The historical president, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, who gave our people confidence, calmness and vision. With patience and wisdom, he made the Kosovo issue part of the international conscience and turned our demands for freedom into the moral causes of the democratic world. He taught us that peace is also a form of resistance to freedom paths. But the time came when peace faced extinction. When the word was no longer enough, freedom required greater sacrifice. The Kosovo Liberation Army was established as a historic necessity. It became the voice of those who no longer had access to“, Cupina said.

Second trial against Thaci begins on February 27th