Andin Hoti After the Hague Verdict: Where Is Justice for the Thousands of Albanian Victims?

Minister for Labour, Family and Liberation War Values Andin Hoti reacted after today’s verdict of the Specialist Court in The Hague against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

Hoti, in a Facebook post, expressed dissatisfaction with the sentences handed down, while stressing that he still awaits justice for his father, Ukshin Hoti, who has been missing since 1999.

“NOT IN MY NAME. Today heavy sentences were handed down for Albanians who stood up for their country, at a time when Kosovo was burning, our families were being massacred and an entire people was being driven from their homes. Hashim Thaci. Kadri Veseli. Rexhep Selimi. Jakup Krasniqi. Meanwhile, I still await the truth and justice for my father,” Hoti wrote.

He stressed that 27 years have passed since his father’s disappearance and that, according to him, no one has been tried or convicted in the case.

“27 years have passed. No one has been tried. No one has been convicted for his disappearance. No one has been convicted for the torture and ill-treatment against him. And my father is just one of thousands of cases,” he said.

Hoti raised a series of questions regarding justice for the Albanian victims of the war in Kosovo.

“Where is justice for over 1,300 Albanian children killed and missing? Where is justice for over 13,000 killed civilians? Where is justice for 20,000 raped women? Where is justice for the missing, whose families still today await a grave on which to place a flower?” Hoti wrote.

He also asked when there will be trials for the people who, according to him, committed crimes during the war in Kosovo.

“Where are the trials for the people who committed massacres, who burned homes, who raped, who took living people and made them disappear without a trace? Today justice handed down political sentences. True justice for our victims continues to be missing,” Hoti wrote.

At the end of his reaction, Hoti called on citizens for calm and restraint, stressing that the verdict can be appealed at the second instance.

“In these difficult moments, I call on the people for calm, restraint and dignity. Our anger is great, but Kosovo needs our wisdom. Let us await the second-instance verdict and continue the demand for justice with our heads held high. NOT IN MY NAME,” his reaction concludes.