Special court for war crimes which is due to be created in Kosovo, will include and Albanians from Macedonia who took place in fights in 1999 on the side of Kosovo Liberation Army. Political analyst from Pristina Behlul Becaj said to Skopje-based media that court will include all who participated in conflict, but politicians who inspired killings during the conflict as well.
“That is why most of parties don’t support the creation of court. They fear that their current members will be amongst the indicted ones, who were part of the KLA. Another reason is that tribunal will be located out of Kosovo, what directly interferes in the sovereignty of Kosovo, explained Becaj.
Macedonian experts claim that this is good way to clear the situation with the ghosts of the past. “There are still many unresolved cases in Kosovo, massive killings, missing persons, human organ trafficking. All that should be processed,” said Stojan Slaveski, professor of security studies in Skopje.
It is hard to say how many Macedonian citizens will be on the list of suspects, considering that the court will only deal with crimes committed in Kosovo. “If someone was a member of the KLA in 1999 and had committed a crime, of course that it will fell under the jurisdiction of that court,” argues Slaveski.
Blerim Becaj argues that it will be very difficult to ascertain how many individuals from Macedonia and regions of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (Serbia proper) had participated in KLA in Kosovo. He added that during court proceedings the first ones that will be processed will be individuals from Kosovo, and after that those from surrounding countries, eventually.
It is believed that big number of Albanians from Macedonia and region of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac had fought in the ranks of the KLA. Analysts stress that considerable number of those also took part in the armed conflict in Macedonia in 2001.
