Thousands of Kosovo Albanians took to the streets of Pristina on August 7 to protest against the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, in a demonstration organised by the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Organization. 

The protest reflects rising frustration among segments of Kosovo society over the perception that the Specialist Chambers is biased and lacks legitimacy. The court was established in 2015 with the backing of the EU and Kosovo’s own parliament, with the mandate to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by KLA members during and after the 1998-99 independence war with Serbian forces.

Protesters accused the court of distorting the narrative of Kosovo’s war for independence and selectively targeting former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Demonstrators were joined by political figures, legal experts and war veterans who argue the court has strayed from its original mission.

"The court has deviated from its mission and is distorting history," said Hysni Gucati, head of the veteran organisation, during the protest, Koha.net reported. "Under the guise of justice, you are doing injustice to those who stood up for freedom, dignity and human existence."

Gucati criticised the Specialist Chambers' investigations for being one-sided, claiming they create a false narrative that Kosovo was "liberated by criminals". He said, “The truth is completely different. The KLA, together with Nato led by America, liberated Kosovo from Belgrade criminals.”

He condemned the ongoing trials of former KLA leaders including Kosovo's former president and prime minister Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and others, calling them “Nato allies” and victims of political prosecution.

Nevenka Tromp, a former investigator at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), also addressed the crowd. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” she said as quoted by Koha.net, adding that the court and its legal processes must act impartially to uphold credibility and fairness.

The protest also drew support from Ali Ahmeti, head of the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) in North Macedonia, who warned that “the Albanian people do not accept that their history is written by foreigners,” and accused Serbia of trying to undermine Kosovo’s independence through the Special Court.

“There is no court that can erase the traces of the Serbian genocide on the Albanian population,” Gucati added, according to Koha.net, calling the legal proceedings against KLA figures “political judgments” that “make injustice more dangerous than war.”

The veterans' organisation thanked citizens and the media for their support.