Letter to Mr. Malcolm and Mr. Schmitt: Shkelzen Gashi has exercised psychological violence against public opinion!
Xhevat Hasani April 8 2026
Dear Mr. Malcolm and Mr. Schmitt!
In your letter of April 3, 2026, you requested that the Kosovo Special Court discontinue the investigation of Mr. Shkelzen Gashi, both because of a controversial book of his and because of a controversial exhibition that he presented in Pristina on March 30, 2026.
You justified the request to discontinue the investigation against Mr. Gashi by saying that: “… in European democracies it is not at all normal for the quality of a scientific work, together with its potential or real weaknesses, to become a cause for criminal prosecution by the state”, and you also said that: “Freedom of science and freedom of expression are fundamental and indispensable principles of the rule of law and democracy”.
In principle, I agree with your request and with the justifications you have given for why the investigation of Mr. Gashi should be terminated. But every rule and every principle has its exceptions, and it is precisely Mr. Gashi who, with his irresponsible statements, represents an exception to the rules and principles of democracy.
Mr. Shkelzen Gashi is not a scientist, but a publicist and journalist, who, precisely by abusing the right to free expression, has repeatedly made irresponsible and scientifically unfounded statements, thus exerting psychological violence both against public opinion and against certain groups and individuals in Kosovo.
Several years ago, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti, dismissed Mr. Shkelzen Gashi from his position as his advisor, because Mr. Gashi made a statement unfounded in facts against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). This statement unfounded in facts by Mr. Gashi has caused indignation and consequently psychological violence both towards the surviving former KLA soldiers, as well as towards the overwhelming majority of Albanians who did not agree with Mr. Gashi’s unfounded statement about the KLA.
Mr. Shkelzen Gashi in a television interview has declared without any argument or fact, that the historical personality of the Albanian people, Isa Boletini, was a mercenary. mr. Gashi with this statement has caused indignation and consequently psychological violence, not only towards the living descendants of Isa Boletini, but also towards hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians, who rightly did not agree with the humiliation that Shkelzen Gashi has done to Isa Boletini.
Mr. Shkelzen Gashi interviewed Mr. Adem Demaçi many years ago regarding his life over 28 years in Serbian-Yugoslav prisons, and regarding his political life after his release from prison in 1990. Mr. Demaçi asked Mr. Gashi not to publish his interview as a book, before he (Demaçi) made the final corrections to it. But Mr. Gashi, contrary to Mr. Demaçi’s will, published his interview as a book, without Mr. Demaçi making the final corrections to it. This action of Mr. Gashi has greatly worried and stressed Mr. Demachi
If Mr. Shkelzen Gashi were a scientist, he would accompany his claim that some Albanian prisoners in Dubrava prison were armed with scientific arguments and facts. But, the very fact that Mr. Gashi has not argued this claim with relevant facts, this shows that he is not a scientist. Therefore, I think that Mr. Gashi does not have the “immunity” of a scientist.
Mr. Shkelzen Gashi, in order to escape personal responsibility, has stated that the data for his statement, according to which there were armed Albanian prisoners in the Dubrava prison, he took from the data of the great Serbian humanist, Natasha Kandić. But Natasha Kandić has denied this statement of Mr. Gashi, which shows that Mr. Gashi has slandered Mrs. Kandić! And as is known, slander does not represent free thought.
Since Serbian forces killed armed Albanians wherever they captured them immediately, this shows that there could not have been any armed Albanian prisoners in Dubrava prison.
Considering the public truth that there were no armed Albanians in Dubrava prison, which was also known to Mr. Shkelzen Gashi, this shows that he has knowingly provided disinformation regarding the Albanian prisoners in Dubrava prison! And as is known, disinformation does not represent free thought.
As far as I know, in the legislation of countries with advanced democracies, just as there are laws that guarantee a person free expression, there are also laws that protect an individual or group from defamation and disinformation, which not only harm the individual or group, but also greatly harm the fragile democracies of new states, such as the state of Kosov
I have no request to the Kosovo Special Court regarding the investigation it is conducting against Mr. Gashi, but I have a request to public opinion and especially to the former prisoners who survived the massacre committed against them in Dubrava prison, that they not resolve their disagreement with Mr. Gashi through Self-judgment , because Self-judgment is the grave of democracy!
At the end of this letter, I would like to express my special consideration for you, Mr. Malcolm, and for you, Mr. Schmitt, for the enlightenment that you, with your scientific work, have brought to the history of the Albanian nation in general and the history of Kosovo in particular.
I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Malcolm for the great honor he has done me, by quoting some of my data in his book «Kosovo: A Short History».
In concluding this letter, I wish you, Mr. Malcolm and Mr. Schmitt, health and success in your century-long work in the field of history.
Respectfully
Dr. Xhevat Hasani
