Protest, smoke, explosives and tear gas. This was the reception reserved for the president of the Specialized Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague, Ekaterina Trendafilova, during her visit to Pristina.
With numerous slogans in support of the former fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, members of the Social Democratic Party organized a demonstration and tried to prevent the meeting of Trëndafilova with the civil society.
Dardan Molliqaj, chairman of the PSD, said: "Now that they are not asking Serbia to recognize Kosovo and now that they are giving autonomy to the Serbs in Kosovo, the leaders of the KLA are in The Hague. Here, the crimes they are accused of are old crimes of UNMIK from 2000-2001, but now that they got closer to Serbia, now the KLA soldiers are chasing them."
PSD was also joined by members and leaders of the organization of war veterans. Faton Klinaku, the president of OVL-UÇK, said: "It would be good for Trendafilova to do something for more human rights that are being violated by the detainees there. As you know, in the last case they also banned their communications with family members and visitors, which is really absurd to ban this".
The Kosovo Police responded to the release of smoke bombs and explosives by releasing tear gas. This caused the protesters and law enforcement to engage in a strong physical fight. As a result of the reaction of the law enforcement, which did not spare the members of the media, the operator of A2 CNN in Kosovo, Burim Mjeku, was also injured.
During the intervention, the police arrested some of the activists who participated in the protest, including the leader of the PSD, Dardan Molliqaj, and 5 other members of the party. At the end of the demonstration, the situation calmed down.
Këndron Kastrati, PSD vice-president, said: "Kosovo police and institutions have used disproportionate violence. We demand that all the arrested activists should be released".
Despite the riots outside the building, Trendafilova said at the event with civil society that the Special Court can also impose sentences of life imprisonment. She expressed surprise at the protest, pointing out that those who have grievances can come to the meeting to discuss the claims. (A2 Televizion)
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