Adem Demaçi

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Adem Demaçi (Born February 26, 1936 in Pristina, Kosovo, in Yugoslavia) is a Kosovar Albanian politician and a longtime political prisoner who spent a total of 28 years in prison for speaking out against the poor treatment of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia as well as criticizing communism and the Tito regime. During his imprisonment he was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Demaci was first imprisoned from 1958-1961. After his release he served two more prison terms 1964-1974 and 1975-1990. In each case he was arrested for so-called irredentism. He never advocated a violence or armed rebellion, but rather a peaceful defederation of the entire country and the abolishment of communism.

After his release he received the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize. He is also the chairman of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms of the People of Kosovo. He was a guest of during a session of the House of Representatives in March 1992.

Adem Demaci stayed in Kosovo during the entire Kosovo War. Though Serbian soldiers knew who he was they did not harm him. The most likely reason for this was his notoriety and his status as a victim of communist oppression. To this day he is involved in Kosovo politics and continues to advocate Kosovo's independence from Serbia, even criticising Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders for accepting a peace settlement with Serbia which did not grant independence for Kosovo.

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