Hamza’s Message From Pristina
After the interview was published, DPK leader Bedri Hamza posted a welcome message on Facebook addressed to Taci for the day the verdict is delivered:
“Deeply moving words from a hero who defined an era and who, even from the Hague, speaks with pride of our liberation war and with unshakeable faith in justice. A life spent in the service of freedom, of the state, and of Kosovo’s history cannot be undone by any trial, from any distance. Hashim Taci, we are waiting for you and your friends on September 16 in Pristina, as liberators, together with more than a million Albanians awaiting your return home. Freedom has a name.”
Hamza’s framing, liberators returning home, stands in direct contrast to the indictment under which Taci formally remains only a defendant. Kosovo Online published Hamza’s message on August 21 at 10:16 a.m., shortly after the Taci interview began circulating in Albanian media.
Why Taci Traces the Story Back to the 1980s
In the interview, Taci argues that the narrative behind the indictment does not begin with the war of the 1990s but decades earlier. He says the story in question started back in the 1980s, when, by his own account, he was 11 or 12 years old, and stretched all the way to December 2000. The high point of that narrative, Taci claims, is the 2010 Dick Marty report, which he says was produced through cooperation between Serbian and Russian officials at the Council of Europe. Asked whether he feels any remorse over what he is accused of, Taci says no, arguing that the will of Kosovo’s elected representatives was abused.
Asked about the possible impact of the trial beyond his own case, Taci goes a step further than simply defending his own innocence: