KLA emblem displayed on Assembly lectern during constitutive session of Kosovo parliament

PDK MP Eliza Hoxha today affixed a KLA emblem to the lectern in the Assembly chamber before the start of the constitutive session.

The KLA emblem was placed over the Kosovo coat of arms and remained on the Assembly lectern throughout the entire constitutive session.

PDK MP Perparim Gruda had previously said that his party’s MPs would participate in the continuation of the constitutive session so that Kosovo would have a functioning legislature before September 16, the date on which the judgment against the former KLA leaders is expected to be delivered in The Hague.

He reiterated this position at the lectern today.

In Kosovo, that date is being described as one of the most important in Kosovo’s history, while political actors and analysts have stressed that Kosovo should not face such an important day without functioning institutions.

A major march in support of the KLA leaders has been announced in Pristina for September 12.
Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West asked the court on February 9 to find the former KLA leaders guilty on all ten counts of the indictment and sentence each of them to 45 years in prison.

She said that the testimony and evidence presented during the proceedings had established that the crimes had been committed and that the accused were responsible for them.

Thaci, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi are charged with crimes against humanity—persecution, imprisonment, other inhumane acts, torture, murder and enforced disappearance—as well as war crimes, including unlawful or arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder.

They have been in detention in The Hague since November 2020, while their trial began in 2023. A total of 134 witnesses testified in court, including 125 called by the Prosecution, two by Victims’ Counsel and seven by the Defense. In addition, 164 witness statements were admitted in written form.