Protest in Priština against arrest of KLA members

Source: Tanjug

PRIŠTINA -- Several thousand people demonstrated in Priština on Monday against the arrest of former commanders of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The protest in Priština on Monday (Tanjug)

The demonstration was organized by former KLA members, after a court ordered that a number of former members of the “Drenica Group,” including its two influential former leaders, Sami Lustaku and Sulejman Selimi, be placed under house arrest.
The protest, which began Monday morning, ended at about 13:00 CET with the participants announcing new protests.

The court in Priština ordered that all the seven men suspected of committing war crimes as members of the ethic Albanian KLA in 1998 and 1999 await their trial under house arrest.

The order came after a marathon questioning of the suspects.

EULEX Prosecutor Maurizio Salustro has demanded that the suspects remain in custody until the completion of the process.

Sulejman Selimi, known by the nom de guerre “Sultan,” currently serves as the ambassador of Kosovo to Albania.

Until the end of 1998, Selimi was chief military commander of the KLA. Following the disbanding of the KLA in 1999, he served as a senior officer of the Kosovo Protection Corps, and between 2009 and 2011, as the commander of the Kosovo Security Force.

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci reacted to the court order stating that the accusations against Selimi and others are “unfounded.”