The Mayor of Skenderaj and former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Sami Lushtaku, sent an open letter on Thursday to all those working in the judiciary, after he was found guilty for war crimes last week.  In his letter, Lushtaku writes that it was not easy to argue that they he didn’t kill a civilian. “When one does not know his family, and who he is, this means that he doesn’t exist,” Lushtaku writes.  “Therefore, as foreseen by the law, together with my lawyer we will file a complaint.

Kosovo’s President, Atifete Jahajga, met today with the US Presidential Special Envoy to the Global Coalition Against ISIS, General John Allen. Jahjaga informed Allen with actions taken by the Kosovo institutions and security mechanisms to prevent the global terrorism threat. General Allen praised Kosovo’s membership in the Global Coalition in the fight against ISIS and  its participation in the Working Group of the Coalition for the distribution of opposing messages.

Adriatik Kelmendi writes about the decision of the court to sentence former General Commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Sylejman Selimi, with 14 years of prison. “There is no greater hierarchical sentence for some KLA member. One cannot find more reliable judges (in principal) than those of the EU states, or to cut it short: Our chief commander of our liberation war was sentenced by European judges. This is bad news, in fact the worst that Kosovo received lately.

Kosovo Assembly Speaker, Kadri Veseli, met with community representatives of Rugova, close to the border line with Montenegro, and head of the commission for demarcation of the borderline with Montenegro, Ali Lajci. He listened to their concerns related to the demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Montenegro.

After the meeting, at a joint press conference, Veseli praised the relations between Kosovo and Montenegro, and assessed them as excellent.

The leaders of the opposition parties through an open letter addressed to the President Atifete Jahjaga, Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli, Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci, demanded the government of Kosovo to immediately cease any activity related to the special court. The letter stressed that the constitutional amendments for the establishment of the special court violate the constitutional provisions regarding the sovereignty of judiciary.

Citing a report published by Skopje-based newspaper Vecer, the news site reports that the Albanian Intelligence Service (SHISH) was aware of the armed group and the attack that was carried out in Kumanovo, in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The newspaper reports that the Kosovo Police and the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI) were also aware about the activities of this group. The armed group was reportedly being investigated by four intelligence services, including SHISH. The latter passed on information to the Kosovo authorities, but not to FYROM.

Kosovo’s  Minister of the Foreign Affairs, Hashim Thaci, reacted regarding the verdict of “Drenica Group,” writing on his Facebook profile that this verdict has tendency to blot justice. Thaci wrote that justice was the main intention of the population, however the verdict of “Drenica” group sets dilemmas on justice.

Kosovo London-based artist Alketa Xhafa – Mripa will bring to a close the campaign titled “Thinking of You” launched a month ago for collecting dresses to support women raped during the conflict in Kosovo. Xhafa-Mripa is touring Kosovo to raise awareness for the women victims of rape. The campaign is being supported by women association as well as the President, Atifete Jahjaga. She said that while the National Council for Survivors of Sexual Violence has been established last year, the next step is raising the society’s awareness on this issue.

For the fourth year, Kosovo will host a two-day international inter-faith conference scheduled to begin today, 28 May. The conference will gather government and religious leaders from different countries as well as representatives from the civil society and is aimed at promoting inter-faith dialogue. The conference will be attended by around 200 participants and will take place in Pristina.

In an opinion piece published on the online edition of Koha, columnist Enver Robelli writes that Kosovo buried with high honours a group of “evildoers” killed in a “senseless” clash with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) authorities. “These self-styled liberators left hundreds of residents in Kumanovo homeless and endangered hundreds of others for Skopje’s secret services. No ‘national cause’ was defended in Kumanovo because the decision about what means to employ to fight for their rights is taken by Macedonian Albanians and not racketeers from Kosovo,” writes Robelli.