A request of the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with regard to establishment of the special court for Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) crimes, until the beginning of 2015 at the latest, is of utmost importance, because such request presents the solidarity of the entire world in shedding the light on so far uninvestigated crimes, said Serbian deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric to Novosti. He added that the world public will be able to hear about what Serbian victims have passed through, whereas some of them will give their testimonies on what they lived and suffered through.
Ban Ki-moon’s request, referring to Kosovo authorities and the EU, will be heard on 25 August at the UN Security Council’s session, where he will present the quarterly report on situation in Kosovo.
Under the pressure of international community and with lot of resistance, establishment of the special court was endorsed last summer by the Kosovo parliament, whereas Pristina is advocating for the seat of the court to be in Kosovo, and that its branch is situated in Hague, whereas proceedings should be carried out in line with the Kosovo legislation. Vekaric argues that the location of the court is not that important.
“Proceedings won’t take place in Kosovo. It is less important if, for the sake of compromise, there would be a board somewhere in Kosovo with the title ‘Special Court’. Judges will, for sure, be internationals, and if a prosecutor happens to be an American, the logical conclusion is that the president of the court would come from the EU. Implementation of Kosovo laws is not an obstacle since they are leaning on laws of the former SFRY and are harmonized with the EU legislation.
“We hail every activity which is leading to revealing war crimes and perpetrators, however we can only be satisfied after final verdicts are rendered, which would bring to justice all who committed crimes in Kosovo, involving, as it could be seen from the prosecutor Williamson’s report, and former top leaders of the KLA,” learned Novosti from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. “For the sake of healing of relations and reconciliation in the province, it is needed that those who are responsible are brought to justice”.
Financial support
The support of the UN Secretary-General is important from the financial reasons, because for tribunal’s operation funds are the crucial precondition, thus the message of Ban Ki-moon is interpreted also as a call to states out of the EU to extend their financial support for the establishment and operation of the court.
