Czech newspaper: Do not treat Thaci as democrat

A renowned former Czech dissident says Kosovo Albanian leader Hashim Thaci "is not a democrat". Petr Uhl wrote in Tuesday's edition of the Prague daily Pravo that Europe should not treat Thaci, the winner in the recent Kosovo elections and likely new prime minister of the province, as a democratic politician. Czech newspaper: Do not treat Thaci as democrat Uhl, persecuted for his dissent during the Communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, is now a journalist. After the regime change, he was the general director of the Czechoslovak Press Agency and a lawmaker, and was later put in charge of human rights by the Vaclav Havel government. Uhl now says that "the difference between Thaci and other former terrorists such as Yasser Arafat, is that they later on in their lives advocated peaceful solutions or at least expressed regret for the acts they committed." He reminds that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was not merely defending against Serbian onslaught, but was also attacking civilians, including Albanians. "Those who were declared collaborationists for sending their kids to Yugoslav schools KLA drove out of their homes," Uhl writes. He pointed out that the case of Thaci must be viewed in the context of the ethnic wars in the former Yugoslavia, "which deserve a different approach from the one currently held by the U.S. and EU." "Until we get closer to the truth about the violence there, the EU ought not to treat Thaci as a democratic politician," the co-founder of Charter 77 and the Committee to Defend the Unjustly Persecuted writes. "Christianity has enriched mankind with the principle of forgiveness, or, to put it less sublimely: it shows understanding for a person, despite their mistakes and sometimes even crimes, if only they admit to those mistakes." "And that is something I do not see in Thaci," Uhl concluded.

Czech newspaper: Do not treat Thaci as democrat

Uhl, persecuted for his dissent during the Communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia, is now a journalist.

After the regime change, he was the general director of the Czechoslovak Press Agency and a lawmaker, and was later put in charge of human rights by the Vaclav Havel government.

Uhl now says that "the difference between Thaci and other former terrorists such as Yasser Arafat, is that they later on in their lives advocated peaceful solutions or at least expressed regret for the acts they committed."

He reminds that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was not merely defending against Serbian onslaught, but was also attacking civilians, including Albanians.

"Those who were declared collaborationists for sending their kids to Yugoslav schools KLA drove out of their homes," Uhl writes.

He pointed out that the case of Thaci must be viewed in the context of the ethnic wars in the former Yugoslavia, "which deserve a different approach from the one currently held by the U.S. and EU."

"Until we get closer to the truth about the violence there, the EU ought not to treat Thaci as a democratic politician," the co-founder of Charter 77 and the Committee to Defend the Unjustly Persecuted writes.

"Christianity has enriched mankind with the principle of forgiveness, or, to put it less sublimely: it shows understanding for a person, despite their mistakes and sometimes even crimes, if only they admit to those mistakes."

"And that is something I do not see in Thaci," Uhl concluded.