TO THE SPECIALIST CHAMBERS OF THE COURT IN “THE HAGUE”
TO THE TRIAL PANEL – Competent in reviewing the criminal case against the defendants HASHIM THAÇI, KADRI VESELI, JAKUP KRASNIQI and REXHEP SELIMI
I am of advanced age (born in 1938) and physically weakened, but not resigned.
I am deeply concerned about the outcome of the Judgment that you will render after reviewing and hearing all the oral and written testimonies, as well as the other materials submitted in different forms.
Honourable Court (Trial Panel), until now I have never doubted your decision-making. However, doubts have now entered my mind, that perhaps you may err – whether intentionally or unintentionally. My concern is reasonable, because the duration of pre-trial detention has been extremely prolonged – exceeding all legal and social norms. If I am mistaken, I ask your forgiveness. What I am pointing out, perhaps you have not fully considered:
Point 1: If you have at any time accepted “hospitality” from the Serbian authorities, be aware that, for their own interests and the benefit of their state, such hospitality may have been tainted – even symbolically – with manipulation, whose effects you surely know.
Point 2: Honourable Court (Trial Panel), I have been informed by credible sources and media reports that, alongside other evidence, you have also been provided with incriminating material from Serbian criminals. I firmly believe you will not allow yourselves to be influenced by such so-called “evidence,” because if your decision is based on those submissions, the liberators – the leaders of the KLA – will be convicted. Yet it would not only be them who are condemned: it would be the entire people of Kosovo. Such a verdict would also cast condemnation upon the North Atlantic Alliance – NATO – and all the freedom-loving peoples of Europe.
I love my family, the KLA, my people, and you – the Honourable Court. I love all freedom-loving people, and I love the natural relief of the globe: the lakes, rivers, seas and oceans. I love the fields, mountains, and dense forests. I love the Sun, the Moon, and the entire celestial Galaxy. I love the animals as well. I love all of these, because they belong to me, just as I belong to them.
The Creator has rewarded us with all the goods of the lands (states) where we live and act. Yet the conquerors, occupiers, the insatiable, the egoists, sadists, cannibals, satanists, and other heartless beings do not allow us to live in peace in our homes and lands.
They unconditionally force us to organize for defense, because these ruthless occupiers and fascists are not satisfied with mere economic exploitation or other forms of domination. They impose upon the occupied people unbearable inhuman methods: imprisonment, wounding, killings without the slightest fault, mass expulsions from their homes, and even sexual violence, among others.
Honourable Court, if in this writing I have made any unintended mistake, I ask for forgiveness.
May we, and you, and all the freedom-loving peoples of the globe, live long.
Dated: 15.08.2025
Sllatinë – VITI – KOSOVO
Author of the letter
MUHABI AZEMI
Sllatinë – VITI
Dear readers,
The reason for publishing this series of articles is a letter addressed to our editorial office by Muhabi Azemi, an elderly veteran of the national cause. In this letter, he voices profound concerns about international justice and the possibility of its failure in recognizing the sacrifices of the people of Kosovo. We regard his words as a conscientious appeal, born from a long and difficult lifetime of service to freedom, and we see it as our duty to share it with the public.
The publication of this letter, together with the broader story of the author’s life, his family, and his native village of Sllatina, is not only a historical testimony but also a vivid reminder of the weight of sacrifice and the responsibility that lies with international institutions of justice.
Muhabi Azemi – A Silent Volcano of Patriotism
The life of Muhabi Azemi (b. 1938), from his early years in Sllatina to his quiet but relentless struggle for education, dignity, and national freedom.
Biography: The Life and Path of a Man Who Never Surrendered
Early Life and Education
Muhabi Azemi was born on October 25, 1938, into a well-known family of intellectuals and patriots in Anamorava. He began schooling in Sllatina e Epërme (seven grades of elementary school). Economic hardship interrupted his further education, and in 1957 he went to Gjevgjeli, Macedonia, where he worked for one year.
In 1958–1960, he served two years of compulsory military service. In 1961, he moved to Belgrade for work, and in 1962 he completed the eighth grade there, again under difficult economic conditions. He remained in Belgrade until 1963.
Forced Economic Migration
In 1963, driven by poverty, he moved to Skopje as a manual laborer. Amid an atmosphere of repression (the notorious “weapons collection” campaign, lack of Albanian-language education, and the ban on the national flag), he did not abandon his thirst for knowledge. He completed a one-year School of Stenography and Typing and a construction master’s course in the Macedonian language. He lived in Macedonia from 1963 to 1967.
Shkup (Skopje) – Hard Labor, Thirst for Knowledge
In 1963, he was employed at the construction company “Granit” (Skopje). Faced with injustice and discrimination, he chose education as his tool of dignity. A forced transfer to the isolated village of Zajaz (Kërçovë) was meant to limit his opportunities, but it did not break his determination.
Return to Viti – From Typist to Translator
A year before the historic 1968 demonstrations, Azemi was employed at the Municipal Court of Viti as a typist and later as a translator. While working there, in 1970 he enrolled in the Administrative High School: lectures were held in Ferizaj, and exams in Mitrovica. He completed it successfully in 1974, the same year he enrolled in the Faculty of Law. However, due to family obligations after starting his own family, he attended lectures for only three months and was forced to discontinue.
Within the institutional framework available to him, he nonetheless sought to assist fellow Albanians and promote the idea of freedom.
Family Life
In 1962, he married Bahrije Shala from Mirosala. Together they raised five children: Vedat, Nehat, Miniremje, Imri, and Fahrush.
Political Persecution
In 1982, Muhabi Azemi was sentenced to two months in prison and stripped of the right to employment for life—a punishment disproportionate and unjust, but which never broke his spirit.
A Portrait of Character
At every turn, Muhabi Azemi chose perseverance, learning, and measured words as forms of resistance. He remains a “silent volcano”: calm on the surface, yet inexhaustible in his dedication.
The Azemi Family of Sllatina – A Lineage of Sacrifice for Kosovo’s FreedomHeritage of Resistance
From teachers and students to professionals and activists, generations of the Azemi family carried the heavy burden of imprisonment, isolation, and sacrifice in pursuit of national liberation.
Heavy Sentences (1981–1983)
- Vahedin Shyqeri Azemi (1960) – 3rd-year dentistry student: 10 years in prison.
- Nazim Behxhet Azemi (1949) – trade worker: 3 years in prison.
- Hilmi Sherif Azemi (1933) – teacher: 2 years in Nish prison (1962); again imprisoned in 1989 (Gjilan, 2 months) as organizer of teachers’ strikes supporting the miners of Trepça.
- Lumnije Sabri Azemi (1963) – student, only 18, sentenced to 1 year (District Court of Prishtina, P-nr. 65/82, July 23, 1982; Supreme Court of Kosovo, Ap-kzh-nr. 93/83, September 16, 1983).
- Daut Behxhet Azemi (1954) – sociology teacher: 10 months in prison (Gimnasium of Gjilan).
Court Records
- District Court of Gjilan: indictment no. 45/82.
- Supreme Court of Prishtina: Ap-kzh-nr. 445/82, ruling of March 23, 1983.
- Registered in: “SPISAK – Convicted persons after hostile and counter-revolutionary demonstrations in the municipality of Viti, 1981–1982.”
Convictions for Misdemeanors (1982)
- Muhabi Qahil Azemi (1938) – jurist: 60 days in prison.
- Ismet Mustafë Azemi (1948) – 60 days in prison.
- Përparim Shyqeri Azemi (1962) – 60 days in prison; later re-isolated (March 28, 1989, Vranje/Shabac).
Others Harassed or Isolated
Several members of the extended Azemi family, including Jahja Azemi (teacher), endured repeated detentions, isolations, or “informative talks,” often accompanied by beatings and maltreatment.
The Family’s Legacy Today
The younger generations of the Azemi family thrive in professions ranging from science and education to culture and creativity—continuing the tradition of serving and affirming the homeland both inside and outside Kosovo.
Sllatina: A Village of Resistance in the Heart of Kosovo
After 1981: Organization in Two Bases
Following the demonstrations of 1981, two clandestine bases were established in the Sllatina villages:
- Sllatina e Epërme: base of PKMLSHJ (Communist Marxist-Leninist Party of Albanians in Yugoslavia).
- Sllatina e Poshtme: base of OMLK (Marxist-Leninist Organization of Kosovo).
PKMLSHJ – Sllatina e Epërme
- Propaganda base: the house of Hamzë Azemi. For security reasons, printing equipment was rotated among homes in the Azemi neighborhood.
- Key activists: Vahedin Azemi, Shyqeri Gjinolli, Daut Azemi, Nazim Azemi.
- Support roles: Ismet Azemi, Nazim Azemi.
- Link to Prishtina center: Vahedin Azemi and Shyqeri Gjinolli.
- Central leadership in Prishtina: Avdulla Prapashtica, Osman Osmani, Faton Topalli.
- Operational tasks: Vahedin Azemi – operational secretary for Ferizaj–Viti–Kaçanik; Shyqeri Gjinolli – organizational secretary for the same region.
- Xhevat Haziri (Podgorc), Xhemajl Rashiti (Podgorc), Muhabi Azemi (Sllatina), Xhevahire Abdullahu (Ferizaj), Faton Topalli (Ferizaj), Fatmir Bajrami (Ferizaj).
- Structure: cell groups known as “groups of three” to expand activities. Example: a cell formed by Shyqeri Gjinolli with Nexhmedin Arifi and Sami Arifi.
OMLK – Sllatina e Poshtme
- Key members: Fahrush Mjaku, Hysen Demelezi, Tahir Lubishtani.
- Central leadership: Hydajet Hyseni.
- Program evolution: initially focused on unification with Albania, later shifted towards establishing the Republic of Kosovo with equal constitutional rights for all citizens.
Convictions and Indictments
Numerous Sllatina activists were imprisoned with sentences ranging from months to ten years. Court records confirm indictments such as 45/82 (Gjilan) and Ap-kzh-nr. 445/82 (Supreme Court, 1983).
Torture and Isolation
Beyond formal indictments, many Sllatina villagers were detained, tortured, or isolated in Serbian prisons—including Fehmi Neziri, Muhabi Neziri, Nexhmedin Arifi, Fahri Imeri, Sami Arifi, Jahja Azemi, Selami Neziri, Njazi Nuredini, Përparim Azemi, Isa Azemi, and others.
Historical Continuity of Resistance
Since 1912, Sllatina had been under Serbian-Montenegrin occupation and repression. Executions, long-term imprisonments, and maltreatment became common. Yet, the clandestine networks, the printed word, and a culture of defiance preserved the will to resist—until the aspiration for freedom was ultimately fulfilled.
Epilogue: From Silent Work to a Voice of Dignity
The story of Muhabi Azemi and the Azemi family is a mosaic of tireless work, quiet sacrifice, and steadfast belief in knowledge as the path to liberation. Sllatina itself appears as a microcosm of Kosovo: a small village with a great heart, where resistance became a way of life
Source note:
The information is based on notes by Shyqeri Gjinolli, the work of MA. Sc. Sami Arifi, Our Roots, Prishtina, 2018, pp. 108–109, as well as journalistic materials by Ismet Rashiti (professional journalist).
