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By:
Ardit Kika
- September 2, 2024 19:23
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The former member of the LDK, Imer Imeri, has testified in the case where the former leaders of the KLA are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He said that even to this day he suffers the consequences of the mistreatment in 1999 by the former members of the KLA. And for the murder of his brother Haki Imeri, he pointed the finger at the accused
The former member of the LDK, Imer Imeri, in his testimony in the trial against Hashim Thaçi and others in the Specialized Chambers in The Hague, said that during the war he was detained and mistreated in Kosovo and also in Cahan of Kruma in Albania, according to him, from members of the KLA.
Prosecutor Vega Iodice stated that the witness was arrested and mistreated because he was a member of the LDK.
"Witness 04735 is a Kosovo Albanian who was kidnapped in Kosovo by masked KLA soldiers because he was a supporter of the LDK and they kept him in the KLA military barracks in Albania and the KLA soldiers beat him. He was in bad sanitary conditions and saw how other people who were detained with him were mistreated. Around mid-June 1999, witness 04735 was transferred to Prizren where he was detained for several days together with several others, including Serbs and Roma, before being released by KLA members who asked him not to tell anyone that he were detained", said prosecutor Iodice.
E Imeri said that what has pushed him to testify in this trial is the injustice he feels for the murder of his brother, Haki Imeri, and the lack of clarification of the case.
"It's hard to forget them. If you hadn't killed my brother, maybe I would have tried to forget, but these are the culmination of all the evils that killed my brother, a son of a national family, an educated boy, when he became more loyal to the state and of ours, he killed me and took my life and they told me they don't know who killed him. These four belong to the institutions of Kosovo, where they served, and all those people were killed, and I will never know who killed them. Silence! Always silence! She has pushed me to be here open before justice and look them in the eye", he said.
During his testimony on Monday, Imeri stated that he was mistreated on the way from Prizren to Brezovica. And here he singled out a member of the KLA.
"That night they sent me, they kept me in the room. In this room, they mentioned to me that I am a fan of President Rugova, give it up or you will all be killed and the uncle started... I was slapped twice, he beat me with a crutch and now with a piece of wood. - Commander Hoxha, Riza Alia, he started with wounds on the head and everywhere on the body, so they covered him with blood", claimed Imeri.
According to him, Xhemshit Krasniqi sent him by car to the place where he was mistreated, but added that he has the impression that he did not want to do this, but was forced.
The cause of the violence, he said that even today he suffers mentally and physically.
"(The marks vj) are visible here on the hand and on the head. I have pain in my hand. I can't move my arm. I can't carry three kilograms with this hand, and even the doctor has concluded that maybe one day you'll end up (so) that you can't move me anymore. I have pain in my back from the big beatings, three times I'm flat, I'm alivanosun. I don't have any awareness that I don't care if I eat alive. But always hoping that God will bring me to justice and that day comes today. I thank you, the jury and everyone else," said the witness.
To the questions of Hashim Thaçi's defender, lawyer Luka Mishetiq, he answered that he was also a member of the KLA in 1998 and that today he has the status of a veteran.
He also gave a message to those who follow his testimony. He said that he is not against the KLA.
"I want to address my people that I am not here against the KLA, that I was the seventh in the KLA. The KLA is golden for the people of Kosovo and the people of Kosovo were all for the KLA, but unfortunately certain individuals, their deeds have brought me here today", said the witness.
The accused Rexhep Selimi has previously submitted objections regarding the testimony of this witness. And Hashim Thaçi, when he was president of Kosovo, post-mortem decorated the brother of the witness, Haki Imer, with the "Hero of Kosovo" Order.
In this case, the former president Hashim Thaçi, the former parliamentarians Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, as well as the former head of deputies of Vetëvendosje Rexhep Selimi, are accused of joint criminal enterprise, related to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Based on the indictment of the ZPS published in February 2023, Thaçi, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi are accused of joint criminal enterprise related to about 100 murders, then of torture and cruel treatment in about 40 detention centers during the period 1998- 1999.
Most of the victims, according to the ZPS, are Albanians, civilians and members of the Democratic League of Kosovo.
According to the ZPS, the accused were aware or should have been aware because of the leadership positions in the General Staff, related to the allegations about the crimes that were committed and had the intention of taking power in Kosovo through them.
The former heads of the KLA General Staff have denied all these accusations. They said that the KLA did not have a clear hierarchy, since the area commanders had the weight and that it was intended to fight Serbia, not civilians.
