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Who is Albin Kurti? Albin Kurti was born on March 24, 1975 in Prishtina. His father is a retired engineer of mechanics and his mother is a construction engineer and a lecturer. He has two brothers. Resisting Milosevic In August 1997, Albin became involved in the Students Independent Union of the University of Prishtina (SIUUP) as a member of the presidency and later was the International Officer. Kurti was also a member of the Organizing Board of the students' peaceful nonviolent protests for the release of university buildings, held by authorities of the Milosevic regime. He was one of the leaders of the historic student protests held in Prishtina on 1st October 1997, brutally repressed by Milosevic’s police. When the war began in Kosova, in August 1998, Albin began working in the office of the General Political Representative (GPR) of UÇK (KLA), Adem Demaçi, where he served as Secretary of the Office. During this time, he was engaged in seeking a political solution for Kosova's crisis. During the NATO bombing, he remained in Prishtina until April 27, 1999, when the Serbian police arrested him. On June 10, with the withdrawal of Serbian forces to Serbia, he and many other Albanian prisoners were transferred to Serbian prisons. On March 13, 2000 in Nish, Albin was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. During the trial, he refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court, saying, "This court has nothing to do with truth and justice. It serves the policies of Milosevic's regime which has kept Kosovo under occupation." When he was sentenced, he stated: "It is not important for me whether you sentence me or for how long. Everything I did, I did voluntarily, with dignity and I am proud of it and would do it again." As a result of international pressure, Albin was released on December 7, 2001. Resisting UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosova) On April 23, 2003, Albin graduated at the University of Prishtina with a degree on Computer Science and Telecommunications and continues to be a human and civil rights activist. He worked as an activist within Kosova Action Network (KAN) (www.kan-ks.org), formed in 1997, but it re-energized through the “New Directions” Conference that was held in Prishtina on 8-13 July 2003. In this manner, KAN ensured its continuation by the means of new beginning. KAN was a movement of young activists whose mission was social change and the creation of an active citizenry. Its activities focused on three main fields: human rights issues and social justice, education, culture and art. KAN included many international members. On 12th June 2005, on the walls surrounding UNMIK’s premises, activists wrote the slogans “NO NEGOTIATIONS, SELF-DETERMINATION!” leading to the transformation of KAN into the ‘Movement for SELF-DETERMINATION! (www.vetevendosje.org) The writing of slogans continued in almost all of the towns and villages of Kosova, and then the movement began to use other creative nonviolent methods such as symbolic actions, blockades and more recently, mass demonstrations. The Kosova Police Service in co-operation with the International Police have arrested, imprisoned, sentenced or fined, hundreds of activists, including Albin. The Movement for SELF-DETERMINATION!’ advocates a referendum of all the people of Kosova as the only just and peaceful solution to deciding the status of Kosova. The movement argues that only through a referendum as an exercise of the right to self-determination can a truly democratic solution be achieved. Instead of negotiations over their freedom which they argue will result in a compromise over their freedom, the movement demands that the people of Kosova be able to decide themselves how they will be governed and by whom. |