During my term in the office of the Special Prosecutor, I will be guided by the facts and the law, I’ll do my job without fear or bias, said in Pristina, the Special Prosecutor for War Crimes in Kosovo, David Schwendiman.
Schwendiman will visit Belgrade in the coming days.
According to the announcement from the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Schwendiman has “underlined his independence”, thanked the interlocutors for their “continuous support” in the formation of his office, pointing out that he was committed to “lead a process that is legitimate and which is seen as legitimate by all those affected by the work of the prosecution.”
It is emphasized that he did not talk with the interlocutors about “the details relating to the substance of the investigation.”
The Kosovo Ministry of Justice issued an announcement after the meeting with the Prosecutor Hoxha.
“Procedural activities will begin in the near future, as soon as possible, but as the conditions and procedures allow,” said special prosecutor, and the ministry announced and added that Schwendiman at the same time pointed out that “the process will be fair,” and that there will be no “selective justice “.
As announced, the US prosecutor will meet with the Head of EULEX Alexandra Papadopoulou, Head of the EU Office in Kosovo and EU Special Representative in Kosovo Natalya Apostolova and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Zahir Tanin.
David Schwendiman in September was appointed as the Court’s chief prosecutor for war crimes committed in Kosovo, and the Special Investigative Task Force (SITF). His appointment also presented a formal transition of the SITF into the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Kosovo.
The process of establishing the Special Court followed a report of the former special rapporteur of the Council of Europe, Dick Marty, who had brought the KLA leaders in connection with atrocities in Kosovo and trafficking in organs, but also after investigation of the chief prosecutor of the Special Investigation Team of the European Union for the crimes in Kosovo since 1999, Clint Williamson.
However, Williamson claimed in 2014 that he with his team found no evidence for the initiation of charges of organ trafficking, pointing out that the report of the Special Investigation Team of the EU, which was formed after Dick Marty’s report “fully coincide.”
Williamson’s team also came to the “irrefutable evidence against certain leaders of the KLA.”
