Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
A video has been published showing acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti giving a speech in the Kosovo Parliament, with a caption claiming that he had declared that "the most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians, organ trafficking."
it CONTENT was published on Sunday (November 9) by a website called "InfoPost".
What's wrong with the content?
Hibrid.info has found that this is a case of severing the statement and taking it out of context.
The statement transcribed from the sequence in question:
"... POr, the most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians, the harvesting and trafficking of organs. WithIndeed, in terms of quantity, it would be said that Serbs have committed more crimes, Serbia. But the most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians. While the government tells us that our future in the European Union (EU) is secure, our past is increasingly uncertain, and the war in Kosovo is now remembered much more for NATO bombs than for the suffering of Albanians.".
Based on what is heard from the video, it is understood that we are dealing with Kurti's personal opinion about the "crimes committed by Albanians."
Since this video material lasts 32 seconds, hibrid.info has researched to find the full video of this speech, from which this sequence was extracted.
Hibrid.info came across the full video of the speech, from which the content was extracted. The video was published on Youtube on the channel of the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) and is titled “Albin Kurti's Speech on the Special Court | April 23, 2014" (see here).
After verifying the content, it was found that, in Kurti's speech, before the part that is presented as his assertion, there is an introduction where he says: “After this special court it will be said that, yes, Serbs have committed more crimes”. This part puts the statement in context and shows that Kurti is describing a possible perception that the formation of the Special Court could bring and not his opinion that Albanians have committed crimes (see here). So in this speech he opposed the formation of the Special Court.
Kurti's full statement from the speech:
"After this special court it will be said that, yes, Serbs committed more crimes, but The most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians, organ harvesting and trafficking. WithIndeed, in terms of quantity, it would be said that Serbs have committed more crimes, Serbia, but the most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians..."
The clipped video with the same claim has been shared before. Hibrid.info found a Facebook post by Arlind Manjhuka, the spokesperson for LVV, published on April 4, 2023. Through this post, Manjhuka reacted to the publication and clarified the context of the statement, presenting it in full (see here).
As of the time of its treatment by hibrid.info, this post has received 100 comments, from whose content it can be assessed that the audience may perceive the claim as accurate.
The post was made on November 9, the day when the second round of local elections was organized in 18 municipalities in Kosovo. The Vetëvendosje Movement, whose leader is Kurti, competed in 12 of them (see here).
A.naliza:
The claim that Albin Kurti has stated that "the most monstrous crimes have been committed by Albanians, organ trafficking" is incorrect.
The video is fragmented and only shows a portion of Kurti's speech, presenting it as a factual statement. Meanwhile, from the context it is understood that he was actually explaining the perceptions that may arise after the formation of the Special Court and not his opinion that "Albanians have committed more monstrous crimes."
Also, a post by the LVV spokesperson clarified that Kurti's statement had been taken out of context.
Therefore, based on the evaluation methodology, hibrid.info categorizes this content as "Fact Manipulation" and "Disinformation".
Reasoning:
“Factual manipulation” is a rating given to informational content that uses facts known to be accurate but interprets them in a distorted manner. These reports typically use accurate information to draw incorrect conclusions or claims, thereby misleading consumers of media content about the actual meaning of the facts presented.
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.