UPN, Alm.del - 2011-12 - Bilag 216: Invitation til møde med to parlamentsmedlemmer fra Kosovo den 22/05-12

Short biography of Albin KurtiResisting MilosevicIn August 1997, when Albin Kurti was 22 years old, he joined presidency of the Students Independent Union of the Universityof Prishtina (SIUUP), and soon after he became its International Officer. Kurti was also a member of the SIUUP’s OrganizingBoard tasked with arranging peaceful nonviolent protests for the release of university buildings held by the authorities of theoppressive Slobodan Milosevic regime. During the historic student demonstration in Prishtina on October 1, 1997, brutallyrepressed by Milosevic’s police, Kurti was one of the protest leaders.When war began in Kosova, in August 1998, Kurti began working as Secretary of the Office of the General PoliticalRepresentative of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Adem Dema§i. Here, Kurti was engaged in seeking a political solution toKosova's crisis. When the NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo commenced in March 1999, Kurti remained in Prishtina, andwas arrested by Serbian police on April 27, 1999. When Serbian forces withdrew from Kosova on June 10, Kurti and manyother Albanians were transferred to Serbian prisons.On March 13, 2000, Kurti was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “threatening Yugoslavia’s territorial integrity”. During the trialagainst him, he refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court, serving, as it did, not justice, but the Milosevic regime whichhad kept Kosovo under harsh occupation. Due to international pressure, Kurti was released on December 7, 2001.Resisting UNMIK (the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosova)On April 23, 2003, Kurti graduated in Computer Science and Telecommunications from the University of Prishtina, andcontinued to work as an activist of Kosova Action Network (KAN). Formed in 1997, KAN consisted of activists working forsocial change and active citizenry. Its activities focused on human rights and social justice; education; culture and art. Inparticular he was engaged in organizing nonviolent protests in support of the families of those whose relatives disappeared inthe war.On June 12 2005, activists sprayed the slogan “NO NEGOTIATIONS, SELF-DETERMINATION!” on the walls of UNMIK’spremises in Prishtina, marking the transformation of KAN into the Movement for SELF-DETERMINATION! (LevizjaVETËVENDOSJE!).The writing of slogans continued all over Kosova, and was soon complemented by other creativenonviolent measures such as blockades, symbolic actions and mass demonstrations. Despite its non-violent nature,VETËVENDOSJE! activists, including Kurti, continue to be arrested, imprisoned and fined, sometimes on illegitimate grounds,and have been subjected to abuse during arrest or imprisonment.VETËVENDOSJE! is a non-violent, voluntary, political opposition movement, against the international rule over Kosova andagainst the obedience, incompetence and corruption of the local leadership. VETËVENDOSJE! believes it is crucial that thedissatisfaction of people in Kosova is directed against the political system and the neo-colonial UNMIK administration, notagainst other ethnic groups. VETËVENDOSJE! argues that only through a referendum as an exercise of the right to self-determination can a truly independent and sovereign democracy be established in Kosova. VETËVENDOSJE! represents theonly real voice of opposition in Kosova.UNMIK’s case against Albin KurtiVETËVENDOSJE!’s main demonstration took place on 10 February 2007, and was against the status negotiations with Serbiaand the Ahtisaari status proposal. This proposal, now part of Kosova’s constitution, will divide Kosova’s territory, institutionsand people through ethnically based decentralization. During this peaceful demonstration, Romanian UN police shot dead twodemonstrators and injured over 80 others with outdated rubber bullets fired at short range to the heads of protesters. The UNlater proved that the police action was criminal, unnecessary and avoidable. But instead of the responsible being prosecuted,Kurti was arrested, kept in prison for five months, and in house arrest for another five and a half months. On 7 February 2008,the politically motivated case against Kurti was suspended when the Bar Association of Kosova, recognizing the politicalnature of the case, refused to appoint him a defense. Kurti never accepted any of the defense councils because they were allappointed by UNMIK – which was also the judge, prosecutorandan offended part in the case. The case against Kurti hasbeen restarted and latter on closed by EULEX by dropping two out of three counts of the indictment.VETËVENDOSJE! todayIn 2010 Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE! added to its strategy of civil resistance, participation in elections and Kosova’s institutions.In the December 2010 elections Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE! came third. Albin Kurti is currently an MP, the Chair of theParliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee in the Republic of Kosova, as well as the leader of VETËVENDOSJE!. Main goals ofVETËVENDOSJE! today are adding sovereignty to independence, production to economy, democracy to institutions and ruleof law to the state.