Sylejman Selimi (born September 25, 1970) is the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, military organisation, who was convicted of war crimes for the torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners at the Likovac detention center during the Kosovo War. After the war, he served as Security Force of the Republic of Kosovo; he left this position in 2011 and became the amb*ador to Albania.

Contents

• 1 Personal life
• 2 Career
• 3 History
• 4 War crimes
• 5 See also
• 6 References

Personal life

Selimi was born on September 25, 1970 in Açarevë village Drenica. He finished primary education in his home town, attended his high school in Kline and finished his studies at the Faculty of Mining and Metallurgy in Kosovska Mitrovica.

Career

• 1991:(1991):– 1997:(1997): Cell recruitment on Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK)
• 1998:(1998):– 1998:(1998): Commander of UÇK in Drenica Operational Area
• 1998:(1998):– 1999:(1999): General commander of UÇK
• 1999:(1999):– 2000:(2000): Commander of Kosova Guard
• 2000:(2000):– 2006:(2006): Deputy commander of Kosovo Protection Corps
• 2006:(2006):– 2009:(2009): Commander of Kosovo Protection Corps
• 2009:(2009):– 2011:(2011): Commander of Kosovo Security Force

History

Prior to the Kosovo Security force, Selimi was commander of its predecessor, the Kosovo Protection Corps. On 19 December 2008, Selimi was appointed commander of the Kosovo Security force by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi.

During Insurgency in Kosovo and Kosovo War, he was commander of Kosovo Liberation Army, ethnic-Albanian paramilitary organisation that sought the separation of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) during the 1990s and the eventual creation of a Greater Albania.

Selimi insisted:

There is de facto Albanian nation. The tragedy is that European powers after World War I decided to divide that nation between several Balkan states. We are now fighting to unify the nation, to liberate all Albanians, including those in Macedonia, Montenegro, and other parts of Serbia. We are not just a liberation army for Kosovo.

War crimes

Selimi was convicted by Kosovo courts of torturing a civilian prisoner at a KLA detention camp in Likovc/Likovac. He received an eight-year prison sentence but later the court cut his sentence to seven years and was conditionally released in January 2019. Kosovo politicians celebrated his release, with President Hashim Thaci stating: "Kosovo is better and safer with the living hero Sylejman Selimi at liberty."

See also

• Military of Kosovo

References