VUČIĆ: VERDICT AGAINST THACI AND OTHERS HAS PROVEN HYPOCRISY AND DOUBLE STANDARDS

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 16 /SRNA/ – Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić says the first-instance verdict against the leaders of the KLA terrorist organisation had demonstrated hypocrisy and double standards, adding that he was surprised by the international community's silence regarding the glorification of the KLA and its convicted leaders.

Vučić said that the verdict, under which Hashim Thaci and three other KLA leaders were sentenced to a combined total of 81 years in prison, represents only a signal to the international community of the scale of the crimes committed against the Serb people, but that it did not cover crimes against humanity. He said that the court established that the attacks had been directed against individuals, but that not all crimes against Serbs after June 1999 were covered, although, as he said, they were as serious as could be. Vučić pointed out that the verdict did not cover organ trafficking or the Yellow House case, nor did it establish the KLA as a criminal organisation; instead, it established the individual responsibility. He stated the verdict did not cover crimes against the Serb and non-Albanian populations, the abductions in Orahovac and Belaćevac, the Lapušnik prison camp, the massacres of Serbs in Glođane and near Lake Radonić, or Klečka, where the bodies of Serb civilians were burned. In addition, Vučić said, the verdict did not cover crimes in Dečani, the disappearances of Serbs at KLA checkpoints, the killings of Serbs in Suva Reka, Klina, Đakovica and Vučitrn, the killing of Father Hariton, Serb children, nor the March 2004 pogrom. Vučić said that the court did not want to undermine the credibility of the KLA and did not address the substance of the issue concerning the formation of forces seeking the secession of Kosovo from Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. “None of those who were pushed by various powers into conflicts against Serbs intends to abandon the policy of denying and belittling crimes committed against Serbs,” Vučić said in an address to the public. He stressed that the verdict gives Serbs no reason either for joy or for sorrow, and that today's events have shown what neighbouring countries /Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia/ think about Serb victims, namely that they are not interested in them. Vučić said that reactions in the region, in which Thaçi and the KLA are spoken of positively, as well as the silence of the international community, represent a major lesson for Serbs about the hypocrisy they face. For that reason, he says, Serbs will have to work even more intensively on a culture of remembrance. He said that following the verdict, from Zagreb to Podgorica, he had not seen a single headline saying something like “monster sentenced to 25 years,” whereas, every convicted Serb is described as a “monster and butcher”. Speaking about the further proceedings, Vučić said that there is no appeals chamber here, but rather another instance above the first-instance panel, namely the Constitutional Court of so-called Kosovo. “Even if the verdict is upheld, which I find difficult to believe, there is also a third level, the Constitutional Court of so-called Kosovo, which can return the case for first-instance consideration,” Vučić said. He stressed that preserving peace and stability is of crucial importance for Serbia, and that the strong emotions, so many years after the conflicts in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, demonstrate that a great deal of injustice has been committed and that not everyone was ready to confront crimes committed in someone else's name.