Banner of a protesting citizen: Chief Justice Charles Smith under the silhouette of Albin Kurti, with EU hammer in hand
tidings
Express Newspaper
01/10/2026 16:34
A citizen appeared with a banner with a caricature of the President of the Trial Panel, Charles Smith, who on September 16 announced the conviction against four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Smith appears dressed in the judge’s uniform, with a hammer in his hand that reads “EU”, in the protest that is being held in Pristina to oppose this sentence.
Two protesters can be seen in the foreground, while the silhouette of Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, appears on the banner or next to him.
Many citizens are protesting every night in Pristina, since September 16, when Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi were sentenced to a total of 81 years in prison.
Outside the court in The Hague and in the main square of Pristina, where hundreds of people had gathered to await the decision, they remained heroes of the bloody war for the country’s independence.
The repeal or amendment of the law on the Special Court is one of the demands of the ongoing protests.
