Mavraj of the pre-war demonstrations: On October 1, 1997, we brought the people together, even now we will rise above religion and party
tidings
Express Newspaper
01/10/2026 17:00
Journalist Muhamet Mavraj, one of the organizers of the student movement that had organized the iconic demonstrations of October 1, 1997, appeared today in front of the citizens gathered in the squares of Pristina in the protest against the conviction of the Special Court against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Mavraj said that “without Albanian education and the Kosovo Liberation Army we would never become a state”.
“On November 1, 1997, the whole nation, all currents, left and right, benevolent and not benevolent, teachers, educators, professors and deans, the whole people came together because we got over our differences. And they were many, not few. Likewise, whenever the nation is in danger, we will rise above religion and above party, because we have Albania as the first party and Albania as the first religion”, he said he.
Mavraj said that one million Albanians were “on their feet that day”.
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 that day, 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.
