SELAK: VERDICT AGAINST TERRORIST KLA LEADERS - HUMILIATION OF SERB VICTIMS

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Justice Minister Goran Selak told SRNA that the first-instance verdict against the former leaders of the terrorist KLA represents yet another mockery of law and justice and a humiliation of Serbian victims, as they were acquitted of charges of crimes against humanity despite proven killings, torture and unlawful detention.

"The verdict finding Hashim Thaci and the other KLA leaders guilty of killings, torture, cruel treatment and unlawful detention confirmed what the Serbian people have been saying for decades - that the so-called KLA was not a liberation movement but a terrorist and criminal organisation. However, the decision to acquit them on all six counts of the indictment relating to crimes against humanity is a mockery of law, justice and the victims," Selak said.

Selak stressed that the crimes of the terrorist KLA cannot be reduced to isolated and unrelated incidents, as Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija were subjected to killings, abductions, torture, persecution and the systematic erasure of traces of their existence.

"How could the crimes of an organisation that had prisons, torture facilities, a command structure and clearly identified targets not have been part of a broader and systematic attack? How are the killings, torture, disappearances and expulsion of the Serbian population not sufficient to establish a crime against humanity? Such legal constructions do not establish the full truth; rather, they leave room for it to be falsified and for terrorists to continue to be glorified as national heroes," Selak said.

He said that the verdict must not be used to downplay the scale of the suffering of the Serbian people or conceal the criminal nature of the KLA.

"Every conviction of those responsible represents at least partial satisfaction for the victims' families, but justice that avoids calling a crime by its proper name is not complete. Courts should contribute to truth and reconciliation, rather than deepen mistrust and divisions among peoples through selective legal classifications. Serbian victims deserve truth, respect and justice without political calculations," Selak said.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague today sentenced four KLA leaders to a total of 81 years in prison.

Hashim Thaci and Jakup Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, Kadri Veseli to 18 years, and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years.