Once Beaten and Imprisoned, Kosovo’s Leader Now Has Greater Test
- Former political prisoner is poised to become prime minister
- Kurti’s been tough on Serbia, fierce critic of his president
This article is for subscribers only.
When NATO jets bombed Serb forces 20 years ago to push them out of Kosovo, Albin Kurti was packed onto a red bus with other political prisoners to be used as a human shield.
He was beaten in custody, convicted of terrorism by a Serb court and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Fearing he’d never leave jail alive, it was only when Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic was ousted in 2001 that he was let go.