{{Short description|Kosovar general; convicted war criminal}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sylejman Selimi | image = | image_size = | caption = | office = Commander of Kosovo Security Force | term_start = 16 June 2009 | term_end = 22 November 2011 | president = Fatmir Sejdiu<br />Jakup Krasniqi (acting)<br />Behgjet Pacolli<br />Jakup Krasniqi (acting)<br />Atifete Jahjaga | 1blankname = Ministry of the KSF | 1namedata = Fehmi Mujota<br />Agim Çeku | prime_minister = Hashim Thaçi | predecessor = ''Office established'' | successor = Kadri Kastrati | office1 = Commander of Kosovo Protection Corps | term_start1 = 10 March 2006 | term_end1 = 16 June 2009 | president1 = Fatmir Sejdiu | prime_minister1 = Agim Çeku<br />Hashim Thaçi | predecessor1 = Agim Çeku | successor1 = ''Office abolished'' | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|9|25|df=y}} | birth_place = Açarevë, Skenderaj, SFR Yugoslavia | allegiance = {{flagdeco|Republic of Kosova}}{{flag|Kosovo}} | branch = Kosovo Liberation Army<br />Kosovo Protection Corps<br />Kosovo Security Force | service_years = 1991–1999, 1999–2009, 2009–2011 | rank = Military commander | battles = {{tree list}} *Insurgency in Kosovo (1995–1998) *Kosovo War **Central Drenica offensive {{tree list/end}} | battles_label = Wars and battles }}
'''Sylejman Selimi''' (born September 25, 1970) is the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who was convicted of war crimes for the torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners at the Likovac detention center during the Kosovo War.<ref name="Balkan Insight">{{cite news |last1=Radovanovic |first1=Milica |title='A Hero Returns': How Freed War Criminals are Glorified in Kosovo |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2020/10/12/a-hero-returns-how-freed-war-criminals-are-glorified-in-kosovo/ |access-date=12 October 2020 |work=Balkan Insight |date=12 October 2020}}</ref> After the war, he served as commander of the Security Force of the Republic of Kosovo;<ref name="Kosovo security forces to become operative">[http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=01&dd=20&nav_id=56538 "Kosovo security forces to become operative"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607062636/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=01&dd=20&nav_id=56538 |date=2011-06-07 }} ''b92.net'' 20 January 2009 Link retrieved 21-01-09</ref><ref name="Kosovo Armed Forces">[http://www.newkosovareport.com/200812201507/Society/Lt.-Gen.-Selimi-appointed-as-Chief-of-Staff-of-Kosovo-Army.html "Lt. Gen. Selimi appointed as Chief of Staff of Kosovo army"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307110943/http://www.newkosovareport.com/200812201507/Society/Lt.-Gen.-Selimi-appointed-as-Chief-of-Staff-of-Kosovo-Army.html |date=2009-03-07 }} ''newkosovoareport.com'' 20 December 2009 Link accessed 21-01-09</ref><ref name="Kosovo's security force launched">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7841789.stm "Kosovo's security force launched"] ''news.bbc.co.uk'' 21 January 2009 Link Retrieved 21-01-09</ref><ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/21/europe/EU-Kosovo-Army.php " Kosovo's new armed forces take control of security "] ''iht.com'' 21 January 2009 21-01-09</ref> he left this position in 2011 and became the ambassador to Albania.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pristina.usembassy.gov/ambassador_christopher_dell_remarks_ksf_change_of_command.html|title=Ambassador Christopher Dell Remarks at the Kosovo Security Force Change of Command in Pristina|date=22 November 2011|publisher=Embassy of the United States in Pristina, Kosovo|access-date=26 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215172930/http://pristina.usembassy.gov/ambassador_christopher_dell_remarks_ksf_change_of_command.html|archive-date=15 February 2013}}</ref>
== Early life == Selimi was born on September 25, 1970, in the village of Açarevë, Drenica, into an Albanian family.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sylejman Selimi sot ka ditëlindjen, Sulltani merr plot urime emocionuese - Infokus |url=https://gazetainfokus.com/sylejman-selimi-sot-ka-ditelindjen-sulltani-merr-plot-urime-emocionuese/?page1=11113618 |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=gazetainfokus.com}}</ref> His family originates from the Gashi tribe (''fis''). 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Editori |date=2019-05-26 |title=Sulejman Selimi - Nga 'Njëshi' i Futbollit Kosovar, Tek Lideri i UÇK-së |url=https://pashtriku.org/sulejman-selimi-nga-njeshi-i-futbollit-kosovar-tek-lideri-i-uck-se/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Pashtriku |language=sq}}</ref> He was a football player for KF Drenica.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://telegrafi.com/en/sylejman-selimi-anetar-ri-komitetit-ekzekutiv-te-ffk-se/ | title=Sylejman Selimi, new member of the FFK Executive Committee | language=en | date=4 May 2022 | publisher=Telegrafi | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318101222/https://telegrafi.com/en/sylejman-selimi-anetar-ri-komitetit-ekzekutiv-te-ffk-se/ | archive-date=2025-03-18 | url-status=live}}</ref>
==Career== * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1991}}|end_date={{End date|1997}}|event=Cell recruitment on Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK)}} * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1998}}|end_date={{End date|1998}}|event=Commander of UÇK in Drenica Operational Area}} * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1998}}|end_date={{End date|1999}}|event=General commander of UÇK}} * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1999}}|end_date={{End date|2000}}|event=Commander of Kosova Guard}} * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|2000}}|end_date={{End date|2006}}|event=Deputy commander of Kosovo Protection Corps}} * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|2006}}|end_date={{End date|2009}}|event=Commander of Kosovo Protection Corps}} * {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|2009}}|end_date={{End date|2011}}|event=Commander of Kosovo Security Force}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Kosovo Embassy|url=http://www.ambasada-ks.net/al/?page=1,20|title=Curriculum Vitae|language=sq}}</ref>
==History== Prior to the Kosovo Security force, Selimi was commander of its predecessor, the Kosovo Protection Corps.<ref name="Kosovo Armed Forces" /> On 19 December 2008, Selimi was appointed commander of the Kosovo Security force by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi.<ref name="Kosovo Armed Forces" />
During the Insurgency in Kosovo and the subsequently intense Kosovo War, he was the commander of Kosovo Liberation Army, an 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=State-building in Kosovo. A plural policing perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YS15BgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1|publisher=Maklu|date=5 February 2015|page=53|isbn = 9789046607497}}</ref><ref name="books.google.rs">{{cite book|title=Liberating Kosovo: Coercive Diplomacy and U. S. Intervention |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5sa90AEvi0C&q=greater%20albania%20kla&pg=PR7|publisher=Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs|date=2012|page=69|isbn = 9780262305129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Genocide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C&q=greater%20albania%20kla&pg=PA249|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2008|page=249|isbn = 9780313346415}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Kosovo-Liberation-Army|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=14 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Albanian Insurgents Keep NATO Forces Busy |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,101938,00.html|publisher=Time|date=6 March 2001}}</ref> Despite his noted contributions as the primary commander of the KLA, his lack of military experience inflicted heavy losses on the KLA's initial campaign. Due to these severe losses, he would later be replaced by the Croatian Army veteran, Agim Çeku.
Selimi insisted:<ref name="books.google.rs"/> {{cquote|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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kosovo Ex-Commander Sylejman Selimi Freed from Jail |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2019/01/25/kosovo-ex-kla-commander-sylejman-selimi-released-01-25-2019/ |access-date=12 October 2020 |work=Balkan Insight |date=25 January 2019}}</ref> He received an eight-year prison sentence but later the court cut his sentence to seven years<ref>{{cite web |title= Kosovo 'Drenica Group' Guerrillas' Convictions Confirmed |url= https://balkaninsight.com/2017/09/04/kosovo-drenica-group-supreme-court-verdict-09-04-2017/ |website= balkaninsight.com |date= 4 September 2017 |access-date= 4 September 2017}}</ref> and was conditionally released in January 2019. Kosovo politicians celebrated his release, with President Hashim Thaçi stating: "Kosovo is better and safer with the living hero Sylejman Selimi at liberty."<ref name="Balkan Insight"/> His appointment was criticised by the U.S. ambassador to Kosovo Philip S. Kosnett who stated "Convicted war criminals have no place in Kosovo's government" <ref>{{cite web |title=War criminals have no place in government, U.S. ambassador tells Kosovo |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN1PW1MA/ |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=Reuters}}</ref>
==See also==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selimi, Sylejman}} Category:Living people Category:Kosovan diplomats Category:Ambassadors of Kosovo to Albania Category:1970 births Category:KF Drenica players Category:Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers Category:20th-century Albanian military personnel Category:20th-century Albanian politicians Category:Kosovo Albanians Category:People from Skenderaj Category:People convicted of war crimes Category:People convicted of torture Category:Military personnel from Skenderaj