An investigation into alleged crimes by members of the former ethnic Albanian paramilitary Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), led by U.S. prosecutor Clint Williamson and launched based on a report by former Parlaimentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) special rapporteur Dick Marty, will be completed no later than the end of the year.
The investigation has been underway for nearly four years now, and sources close to lead prosecutor Williamson have told Belgrade-based daily Danas that media speculation about alleged new names appearing on the list of suspects is unacceptable but is not hindering the investigation, which is going in the right direction.
Pristina’s newspaper Gazeta Express has reported that Williamson’s file includes the names of 120 KLA leaders and they are expected to be indicted for the disappearance of at least 320 Serbs in the regions of Orahovac, Drenica and Metohija.
According to sources who spoke for the Pristina daily, the named leaders will be arrested when a special court to deal with crimes committed in Kosovo is set up.
Sources close to Williamson told Danas that the outcome of the investigation cannot be predicted with any certainty at this point, adding, however, that it is important for the special court to be set up and be ready to begin work if proceedings are started based on reasonable suspicion that crimes have been committed.
According to these sources, it is irrelevant if the tribunal’s headquarters are set up in Kosovo or not, as long as the court meets the basic technical needs, has an expert team and is able to guarantee witness protection.
The U.S. prosecutor’s team numbers about 40 investigators whose reports describe the crimes committed by the former KLA members against Serbs, Roma and Albanians loyal to the Republic of Serbia after the withdrawal of the Serbian military and police forces from Kosovo in 1999.
Dick Marty’s allegations about organ harvesting in the infamous ‘Yellow House’ near Burrel, central Albania, where civilian captives, mostly Serbs, were killed and their organs sold on the black market, received a lot of public attention both in Serbia and abroad, Danas said.
Media often named Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci in connection with the case, but Albanian newspapers reporting about alleged lists recently said that Taci’s name is not on the list of suspects.
Bruno Vekaric, Serbia’s deputy prosecutor for war crimes, has told Danas that Serbia’s cooperation with Clint Williamson’s investigators is excellent.
“Members of his team are in Belgrade, and also in several neighboring countries. It is customary in this kind of process, but I cannot give you any details until the investigation is complete,” said Vekaric.
