Berisha: Rama’s attack on Joe Biden over the Thaçi conviction is “extreme shamelessness”

Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha called “extreme shamelessness” the statement by Prime Minister Edi Rama in the United States that former American president Joe Biden betrayed Hashim Thaçi.

“Joe Biden is no longer president, but as I have said before, throughout his career he has cast his vote and taken his stance in favor of Albanians. There is no document in the world in which Joe Biden promised one man or another that he would protect him from trial and justice,” Berisha said.

“To exploit an unjust court decision in order to declare the former president of the United States a traitor to Hashim Thaçi — that is, a disloyal man toward this individual — means to be stripped of every moral norm. And to have such a great concern in this matter that you are ready to say anything. But in fact, the one who stands behind these processes and convictions is Edi Rama himself.”

What did Rama say?

On Friday, during his speech at a gala evening organized by the Council for Albanian-American Relations, Rama declared that Joe Biden had betrayed Hashim Thaçi, following his conviction in The Hague to 25 years in prison.

“I am missing someone who has always been invited here, Hashim Thaçi. He is not with us today because this country betrayed him. Because Joe Biden, who called him the George Washington of Kosovo, betrayed him. Because even though General Clark did his best, this country did not do its best. I am sure that this country could have done more. First, by not allowing this farce to start.”

The conviction of former KLA leaders

On September 16, Kosovo’s former president Hashim Thaçi was found guilty of war crimes by the Specialist Court for war crimes in Kosovo. Thaçi, 58, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes including murder, torture and unlawful detention, committed when he was a senior commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) between April 1998 and June 20, 1999, when Kosovo was fighting to break away from Serbia.

In its ruling, the Court said Thaçi was found guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and persons considered collaborators of the Serbian security forces, committed by KLA members during the conflict.

On similar charges, Jakup Krasniqi was also sentenced to 25 years in prison. Kadri Veseli was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Rexhep Selimi was sentenced to 13 years in prison.