23 Jul 14
The new Netherlands-based special court will launch its first cases against former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters for the wartime killings, deportations and abductions of Serbs next year.

Marija Ristic
BIRN
Belgrade

“We expect the court to be fully functional at the beginning of next year… There will be several former Kosovo Liberation Army members on the trial bench,” a senior EU diplomat told BIRN.

Indictments will be issued for the killings, abduction and deportation of Kosovo Serbs who were imprisoned in many KLA detention camps in Kosovo during the conflict in 1999 and later transferred to Albania, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

The news emerged as Clint Williamson, the chief investigator from the EU-backed Special Investigative Task Force which has been probing allegations of organ trafficking by KLA guerrillas, visited Pristina and Belgrade this week.

Williamson is due to present his report next week about claims that KLA fighters harvested organs from Serb prisoners and others during the conflict – allegations that first emerged in a controversial report by Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty in 2010.

The report linked senior former KLA fighters, including outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, to organised crime and organ-trafficking.

The EU diplomat told BIRN however that the task force had run into difficulties indicting high-ranking former KLA officials for having command responsibility for the crimes because the guerrilla force didn’t have written orders like an ordinary army and there were no documents to prove that the crimes were committed.

Local media have speculated that this means that Thaci will probably not be indicted, although this could not be independently confirmed.

The majority of the new court’s indictments will be based on material from the previous investigations carried out by UN and EU missions in Kosovo, but also on testimonies from victims and their relatives.

During his visit to Kosovo and Serbia, Williamson declined to reveal any of his findings before the presentation of task force report next week.

“Ambassador Williamson noted that he is aware of the mounting speculation about the findings of the SITF [task force], but he underlined that no information related to the findings of the investigation will be released until an announcement is made, and no specific outcomes should be prejudged,” his office said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

In April, Kosovo’s parliament approved the establishment of the new special court to probe allegations which will be published in Williamson’s report.

The European Union already asked the Dutch government to assist the EU’s task force in criminal proceedings once the investigation into organ-trafficking allegations is complete.

Although the new special court will be based in the Netherlands, and prosecutors and judges will be international, it will operate under Kosovo’s laws.