Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted on Monday afternoon immediately after the Specialist Prosecution in The Hague presented, during the trial of former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a request for sentences totaling 45 years of imprisonment by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecution’s move has sparked strong reactions across the region.

In a post on social media, Rama used harsh language in defense of the former KLA commanders, including his long-time friend Hashim Thaçi, describing the prosecution’s request as an “injustice” and expressing his shock at the way the international prosecution has handled the case.

Statement by Prime Minister Edi Rama:

“Friends from Pristina are asking me why I am not speaking out about my friend who today was burdened with a request for 45 years in prison in the prosecution’s submission in The Hague. I am unable to speak because I am still trying to understand where the logical thread followed by the prosecution originates in order to arrive at a demand that amounts to burying alive four men, and as never before, words are failing me…

My apologies, I need time to swallow the entire mountain of filth that this prosecution produced today in the heart of democratic Europe.”