Torch lighting in Shipkovica shows support for accused KLA leaders

A torch-lighting called "Torch of Freedom" will be held in the village of Shipkovica on 14 September 2026 at 19:00 as a show of unity and support for four former KLA leaders who are facing trial in The Hague.

The Organisational Council of KLA Veterans issued a call for Albanians to join the event, scheduled two days before the verdict at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague for Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi. The court is set to announce its decision on 16 September 2026.

Speaking in an interview on Klan TV, DUI leader Ali Ahmeti warned that an unfair ruling could reshape historical trends. He said: “Judges must have, and have, the greatest responsibility, because I am very afraid that this will influence a change of course, because we invested a lot in peace, stability, security, both in Kosovo and in North Macedonia. If Kosovo is in pain, that pain is felt by all Albanians in North Macedonia and in Albania, because the same wound has been inflicted on Albanians. Therefore, it must be taken into account that Kosovo's future must be guaranteed.”

Appeals to allies and the past

Ahmeti framed the prosecutions as rooted in what he described as false and "monstrous" allegations first advanced by former Swiss senator Dick Marty, and appealed to the role of NATO and Western partners in Kosovo's liberation. He told the television station: “Our war was liberating. We respected all international documents on wars. I hope that the prosecution and the court will take into account the importance of these historical events, because here may follow: today is punished, hypothetically speaking for the KLA, for its leaders, and tomorrow a dossier may be opened for the USA, for NATO, for the EU... Because without the help of NATO, without the help of America and the allies who joined NATO, certainly we would not have succeeded in liberating Kosovo. We won freedom with blood, but we achieved liberation with our allies, to whom we must be grateful for life.”

The prosecutor's case against the four former leaders is based on testimony from roughly 270 witnesses and thousands of pages of documents. Hashim Thaci resigned as Kosovo president and surrendered to the court in November 2020 after the indictment was confirmed; he has pleaded not guilty to charges that include persecution, murder, torture, ill-treatment and disappearances alleged to have occurred between April 1998 and August 1999 in locations across Kosovo and northern Albania.

Regional concern centres on how a conviction might be perceived: not only as individual guilt but as a broader judgement on the KLA and, by extension, on Kosovo's legitimacy. Analysts warn that any verdict — guilty or acquittal — is unlikely to improve relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and could be exploited politically in Serbia, especially during an election cycle.

Two days earlier, a "March of Freedom" was held in Pristina in support of the accused, an event attended by Ali Ahmeti; on Facebook he wrote: “From Pristina today we sent the message that justice and freedom must go together. Glory to all martyrs of freedom! Long live Kosovo! Glory to the KLA!” Ahmeti also suggested that Prime Minister Albin Kurti may have stayed away from that march out of caution over possible booing, saying: “I think he was cautious, that’s my assessment. Maybe he thought there could be reactions from the people who were present on the square, but there were MPs from VV. There was a possibility someone would boo him.”

Photo: press material from the event