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Reuters
Hashim Thaci, who has been Kosovo’s president since 2016, says he will head to the country on Sunday.
Kosovo President Hashim Thaci rejected a war crime allegation he faces, calling it an attempt to rewrite the history of his country.
In his first comments since prosecutors’ decision in a court in The Hague, Thaci said he would address the issue in more detail in a speech on Sunday.
The war crimes and crimes against humanity charges relate to the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia in the 1990s.
Thaci has denied wrongdoing.
A special international prosecutor in The Hague says Thaci and others “are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders”, torture and enforced disappearances.
The charges stem from Thaci’s time as one of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who rebelled against Belgrade when Kosovo was a province of Serbia.
Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority views the KLA as heroes.
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In a Facebook statement on Friday, Thaci said he had landed in the Albanian capital Tirana, and that he would soon return to Kosovo, where he would head to the country on Sunday.
“No one can rewrite the history of Kosovo!” he said. “I remain hopeful that the next few days will be the best for Kosovo and Albania.”
Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described the accusation in the EU-backed court as “good news”.
However, he called for “restraint” amid concerns that the move could increase tensions with Kosovo’s Serbian ethnic minority.
In its announcement, the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) said that, on April 24, it had filed a 10-charge indictment with the Kosovo Chambers of Specialists (KSC) “for the court’s consideration.” It has not released details about the alleged war crimes.
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AFP
A caravan carrying President Thaci was photographed leaving Albania’s Tirana airport on Friday
“The indictment is only an indictment. It is the result of a lengthy investigation and reflects the SPO’s determination that it can prove all charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.
The statement also said that Thaci and another of the accused, Kosovo politician Kadri Veseli, had tried to “obstruct and undermine” the work of the SPO “in an attempt to ensure that they do not face justice.”
A pre-trial judge has six months to decide whether the court will issue charges.
Allegations of organ trafficking against the KLA were first raised by a former war crimes prosecutor from The Hague, Carla del Ponte, in 2008. The court was created to investigate the allegations.
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Kosovo’s war of independence in 1998-1999 cost more than 10,000 lives and only ended after a NATO air campaign.
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, something that Serbia does not yet recognize.
