The Council for the Protection of Human Rights (KMLDNj) has reacted after the raid and the detention of the former deputy and former superior of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Haxhi Shala by the Special Court in The Hague.

Through a reaction to the media, KMDLNj said that on Monday unidentified persons in Banjë i Malisheva raided Shala's house and later sent him to the EULEX offices in Pristina.

In response, it is further stated that "according to the information of the KMDLNj, the paramilitaries of the Special Court do not have identification marks".

Likewise, the KMLDNj say that the reasoning of the Special Court for raids and arrests is the same method that the UDB has implemented.

Full reaction:

On December 11, unidentified persons in Malisheva's Banjë raided the house of the KLA fighter and later member of the Kosovo Assembly, Haxhi Shala, who was sent to the EULEX prison base for questioning. His phone had been confiscated some time ago. Haxhi Shala, deprived of his freedom, spent the night in the EULEX prison base, without anyone informing him and his family about his fate. The suspicions are that today he will be sent to the Prison of the Special Racist Court in The Hague, where 8 KLA soldiers are being held hostage, some of whom at the time of the arrest were holders of the highest political and institutional positions in Kosovo. According to KMDLNj information, the paramilitaries of the Special Court who do not have identification marks are being careful during raids to create an impression that they are respecting legal standards and human rights during these incursions against KLA soldiers and supporters of theirs. During the raids, the lawyer proposed by the suspect is also present. It is perhaps not only a coincidence of the case but also the threat that Ekaterina Trandafilova, pre-paid president of this Court, issued during her last visit to Pristina that Hashim Thaçi, president of Kosovo, Jakup Krasniqi for two terms as president of the Assembly, Kadri Veseli, president of the Assembly and Rexhep Selimi, head of the GP of the LVV can be sentenced to life imprisonment and that the raids and other invasive actions will continue in the future. This threat was perhaps intensified even after the public meeting with some ambassadors as well as after the meeting with some Kosovar political leaders and the meetings were not made public. He continued the threats even after he returned to The Hague, after which there were three raids and one arrest, this one of Haxhi Shala. According to KMDLNj information from the field, the dissatisfaction with these raids by unidentified and unknown persons at the time when this Court engages the Kosovo policemen as "army workers" to regulate traffic and create a completely misleading impression that the Kosovo Police is an active part of this persecuting inquisition is on the rise and can get out of hand. 

This Court's justification for arrests and raids is "obstructing the administration of justice" represents a carte bianca for unlimited and uncontrolled actions by anyone, least of all the Kosovo institutions that are nominally the founders of this Court. During the regime of the former Yugoslavia, the Serbian and Yugoslav UDB had invented an incriminating article that sanctioned free speech and freedom of thought by punishing with heavy prison, from 1 to 10 years, all those who spoke about the freedom of Albanians or even those who thought they should be equal with others. This article was so flexible that it created unlimited opportunities to imprison, beat, kill and punish Albanians who loved freedom, even as an idea, without taking any concrete action.

The Special Racist Court is using the same method that the UDB has implemented through the law for obstructing the administration of justice, it can raid and arrest all those who do not want to become witnesses, who support the KLA war or who disagree with this Court. It is enough for any protected witness to mention the name and the Special paramilitaries will be at home. The Special Court is using fabricated witnesses, Serbian BIA informants and witnesses recruited by Serbian security, Serbian prosecution witnesses and witnesses from Kosovo lured with many benefits, money, change of identity and accommodation in another country.

KMDLNj publicly denounces these threats by President Trandafilova as a serious violation of the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty who are being held in The Hague due to the fact that it is flagrantly violating the principle of presumption of innocence after declaring them guilty of the accused, the judicial process has not yet been completed.

The KMDLNj universally denounces the fabrication of wiretapping of the hostages being held in The Hague, all citizens of Kosovo and all Albanians, after which, at the proposal of the SP, repressive measures were taken against them, such as the prohibition of non-privileged visits and telephone conversations. KMDLNj publicly denounces the deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo who do not request a report from this Court for the respect and the identified violation of the human rights of persons deprived of their freedom since this Assembly voted for the establishment of this court.