Kostov: If the Hague verdict leads to protests, they should be directed at the court

Political analyst from Skopje Sotir Kostov believes that following the September 16 verdict by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague against former KLA leaders, some will say that justice has been served while others will say it has not, but that this should be discussed through a proper and civil discourse, without inflammatory statements. If the verdict leads to protests, he says they should be directed at the court in The Hague, and that protests are always permitted as long as they are peaceful and well organized.

Kostov told Kosovo Online that it is not necessary to prejudge what the decision will be and that we should wait to see how the court with jurisdiction and competence in the matter will rule.

“After that, there are ordinary and extraordinary legal remedies. International courts do not rule quickly, they proceed slowly. They follow procedures. If someone's rights have been violated, they have the right to appeal. We need to use our common sense and wait for the verdict. If the verdict is a conviction, we will speak out against it if we do not accept it. Some will speak in favor of it. If it is an acquittal, we will take the same approach. We should not make inflammatory statements, because that only drives us further apart. The time of wars is over,” Kostov said.

He said that he hopes the truth will come out and that everyone will receive the sentence they deserve, depending on what they did during the war.

“If someone did bad things, committed killings, God forbid, genocide or crimes against humanity, they should be held accountable. And if there is no evidence of that, those who are part of the proceedings should be acquitted,” he added.

Speaking about the possibility that the verdict could lead to some form of protest, he said that protests are always permitted when they are peaceful, well organized and have a clear purpose, and believes that this should also be the case this time if there are people who are dissatisfied.

“Protests should be directed at the court in The Hague, in The Hague itself or at some representative office of The Hague in the Balkans. It is the Specialist Court established for everything that was done outside the international rules of the United Nations and all other conventions on war, peace, the treatment of prisoners, inhumane conduct... Who do we want to address our dissatisfaction to? Why protest in Skopje, Pristina or Tirana? There is no reason. But I think protests are legitimate and are permitted under all constitutions and laws. If they are peaceful and well organized, I will look upon them sympathetically. If they lead to things that are not acceptable, I will condemn them and will not support them,” Kostov said.

Commenting on a statement by former KLA commander Nasim Haradinaj that he believes the situation in Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia will escalate if the Kosovo Specialist Chambers convict former KLA leaders, and that if such a decision is made, “everything will burn, both Macedonia and Albania,” Kostov recalled Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, under which an attack on Macedonia would also constitute an attack on NATO.