Self-Determination, one year of political actions

“When we get arrested, we read a book inside the cells. In the last arrest, also I got the news of being free I didn’t want to get out without reading the last remaining pages of the book. We see prison as an opportunity, as a chance”, says Xhelal Sveqia.

The Self-Determination Movement strongly believes on its political objective, “returning Kosovo to a state of the Albanians and to its citizens”, and for this, the critics for harsh protests make no impressions to their activists.

“We at the Self-Determination Movement think that it is much bigger damage when a Serbian representative, who keeps and organizes the parallel structures, is welcomed in Prishtina by Kosovo authorities, than the citizens’ protests that break the windows of this government”, one of the Self-Determination Movement activists says.

Aida Derguti is among the oldest Self-Determination activists. They tell that each Self-Determination Movement organization has its own political reasoning behind. Such is the banner “No negotiations, but self-determination”, which was firstly written in the UNMIK wall, in 2005, for being rewritten again in 2010 in the building of the Kosovo Government.

With this action, the Self-Determination Movement invited the government to not negotiate the status of a country with Serbia. The Demonstration of the February 10th, when 2 protesters were killed and dozens of others were wounded, caught the Self-Determination Movement in a seemingly no way out situation.

“This caused the number of activists increase slowly, because everyone that has supported the Self –Determination Movement has known that the membership here is part of an action that has made many people hesitate, although they support the movement”, Aida Derguti says.

“February 10th is one of the protests that Self-Determination Movement has organized and has had its own political goals, while the police has accused us and said that they had arrested the most dangerous group of the protest, when in fact, in that group there were people who helped the wounded. As for the court decisions, it was very interesting the communication of the judge with a high rank official, which means that it was a decision that was coming from high rank state officials”, another Self-Determination movement activist says.

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