SDSM party official Fatmir Bytiqi joined the chorus of ethnic Albanian politicians who have condemned the war crimes sentence against former UCK commander Hashim Thaci and three of his lieutenants. Bytiqi, who was Economy Minister under SDSM, was critical of the sentence, even though Thaci and the others were found guilty of killing over 100 prisoners and torturing 400.

Today’s sentence in the Hague is a judicial decision and as such it will be subject to appeal. But no judicial verdict can rewrite the history of a people or undermine the liberation character of its war and the sacrifice of an entire generation. This is not a sentence against the people of Kosovo or its struggle for liberation. Ultimately, that verdict belongs to Kosovo itself an dto the generations who have lived and inhabited it, said Bytiqi.