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Trial in The Hague, Jakup Krasniqi emotional speech: I can't forget my father's struggles due to the violence of the Serbs

2023-04-05 10:54:14Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Trial in The Hague, Jakup Krasniqi emotional speech: I can't forget my
Jakup Krasniqi

The former spokesman of the KLA, Jakup Krasniqi, is addressing the court in the Specialized Chambers of Kosovo. He started his speech by presenting his autobiography from birth, to then move on to political activity.

Showing that he himself was convicted by the former Yugoslavia, Krasniqi said that the accusation against him now is unreasonable.

"I hate violence, murders, imprisonments, tortures, punishments, not because they have been applied to me and to us as a people, but because they are extremely low and inhumane. Anyone who speaks the truth who has never been involved in any murder, imprisonment, and pressure on no one", said Krasniqi.

He has said that his personal and intellectual integrity would not allow him to use violence against someone as a means.

The speech of Mr. Krasniqi
I was born on January 1, 1951 in Drenica. There were 8 brothers and 8 sisters in the family. I am the second brother in age. My father was educated and with a little effort he would have become a teacher. But he did not agree with the regime of the time and chose to work the land and take care of his children's education. I was born 6 years after January 1945 when Serbian forces killed thousands of Albanians, imprisoned many more and programmed the deportation of Albanians to Turkey.

In Bujan, the Kosovo delegates approved a resolution that after the end of the war, Kosovo and the Dukagjin Plain would join Albania. But Serbia imposed a military regime and killed thousands of Albanians without trial.

I mentioned these facts to illustrate the circumstances in which I was born and raised. Since childhood, I have been surrounded by people who survived the genocide, whose family members were killed.

From the terrible stories that were told and told, everywhere I went, that behind the Yugoslav propaganda for equality, there is a terrible terror against Albanians.

When I was 5-6 years old in 1957 the Yugoslav communist regime started a new wave of violence. My father was a victim of this violence. I remember when he came beaten and in a corner my mother tried to ease his pain. Even to this day, his struggles from violence remain in my mind.

Although I finished school with good results, I did not manage to get into high school and for a year I herded our sheep. My father insisted and I went to school and worked as a teacher in my village and then as a professor in a high school. But I was aware that all the knowledge in the world would not be enough to change the situation of the Albanians.

In 1981, due to great dissatisfaction, the youth of Kosovo organized demonstrations to demand equal rights with other nations in Yugoslavia. These demonstrations were violently suppressed by the forces of that country. 11 young people were killed, 285 were injured and hundreds of thousands were imprisoned.

Terrible violence has been inflicted on me as well. I experienced horrors that cannot be described in words. My hands and feet were always swollen from the beatings. I was convicted twice. I mentioned the tortures to underline a fact that no investigator, prosecutor or judge of the former Yugoslavia who were responsible at that time have ever been the subject of my writings, I have left them in their conscience.

I hate violence not only because it was used against me and our people, but because I consider it low and inhuman. I have never been involved in any murder, imprisonment. My intellectual and human integrity has enabled me to be clear about the tools to be used.

After more than 10 years of suffering, I was released from Novi Sad prison. But this did not mean freedom. The people of Kosovo were enslaved. From the prison walls of Novi Sad, which was full of Albanians, I entered the prison of 2 million Albanians called Kosovo.

Immediately after returning to Kosovo, he joined the LDK. At that time LDK was committed to organizing a political and institutional life in Kosovo. In 1992, I won 96% of the votes of the citizens of my area and was elected deputy. I was also the chairman of the LDK branch in Drenas. It is absurd that I am accused of persecuting LDK members. I myself was a member of it. My family members were members of it. Only a deranged mind could have conceived the idea that I could persecute myself, my family members or fellow soldiers.

My brother Agim Krasniqi has been a member of LDK all his life. His daughter, his granddaughter, after the war was elected a member of the Municipal Council with LDK.

When the war started, instead of confronting the KLA, Serbian forces massacred children, women, and old people. They destroyed everything that was connected with the identity of Albanians. Many heinous crimes have been pure acts of genocide. I have visited many families whose members have been killed.

I cried when I saw all the murdered Jashari families in a warehouse of construction materials. Adem Demaçi told me 'Jakup has no victory' without struggle and sacrifice. I knew this was the 'price of freedom'. I was crying for the children, for the descendants of my nation, for those who did not have the chance to live a day of their childhood.

In those moments I realized that I could no longer live with my head stuck in the roof like an ostrich. Those were decisive moments. In those moments I said 'freedom or death' but never again under this genocide. In June 1998, I went public as a spokesman for the KLA. I was aware that my public appearance would also put my family at risk. The family was already a target.

No matter how many times it has depended on us, we have always opened the gates to peace. We were guided by the 'order of Skanderbeg' which told us that 'seeking war is madness but responding to it is obligation'".


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

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