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| Albin Kurti and Haxhi Hoti |
Mr. Hoti wrote in a post on his Facebook social network that "John F. Kennedy was in the interest of the American people to be President, but it was not in the interest of the American state to be President. Albin Kurti is probably in the interest of the people of Kosovo, but it is not in the interest of the state of Kosovo to be a prime minister. Albin Kurti has two ways: either to leave Kosovo or be killed,” he wrote.
The post caused a lot of backlashes after which he deleted it by apologizing in a new post in which he said, "It was a technical mistake of mine, where the media without asking me to distribute this article! I apologize publicly." He also said that his views do not reflect the views of his political entity.
Kosovo police said they treated the case as a "push to kill" and the suspect was arrested. He has now been given 48-hour detention, according to Voice of America.
Vetevendosje Movement said that it has filed criminal charges against Mr. Hoti.
“We do not know whether that threat was commissioned, cold-blooded, or fueled by a culture of hate for the Movement, which has been cultivated for years by power entities that have been illegally enriched by impoverishing Kosovo. These things should be revealed to the police and the prosecution,” reads a reaction by the Vetevendosje movement.
"However, the case has aggravating circumstances, because the threat is part of the Republican Assembly's list of candidates from a PAN coalition party, prominent for maladministration and state capture. In addition to his party affiliation, his public postings on social networks show that Hoti is also a big fan of the President of the Republic,” the post reads.
The chairman of the National Council of Social Democratic Initiative, Jakup Krasniqi wrote in a post on facebook that "The NISMA has been and is against any kind of violence or threat from the beginning - whoever is out this current is not NISMA!
On Sunday Mr. Kurti wrote on facebook: "I am not John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Mr. Haxhi Hoti is not Lee Harvey Oswald. I cannot value security issues or meddle in the justice, but I think will be good for Mr. Hoti to be released and look forward to the 2020 New Year with his family at his home."
The Vetevendosje Movement came first in the October 6th snap parliamentary elections and its chairman Albin Kurti is a candidate for prime minister of Kosovo. Negotiations of this movement to form a government in coalition with the Democratic League of Kosovo are expected to resume after the hitherto failure to agree on power-sharing.