The President of the Assembly of Kosovo and leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (PDK), Kadri Veseli, spoke today about the Special Court, saying that it is an unavoidable challenge, but it can be overcome.
Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director, Marko Djuric told the BETA news agency, if Serbia was consulted, the Special Court for war crimes in Kosovo could really be international, and not a court established or dissolved by the Assembly in Pristina.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Efforts by Kosovo to suspend a war crimes court set up to prosecute atrocities committed by ethnic Albanians during their independence struggle are threatening relations with Western allies who backed Kosovo’s split from Serbia, European and American officials have warned.
German and French envoys are adding to diplomatic pressure on Kosovo not to try to stop the new Specialist Chambers – which will try former Kosovo guerrillas – from coming into operation.
A joint German-French delegation met Kosovo officials on Wednesday to voice concern about recent failed attempts by Kosovo MPs to revoke the law establishing the Special Court, set up to try Kosovo Albanian war crimes.
Survivors of the 1999 Kosovo war and rights campaigners criticised attempts by MPs in Pristina to stop the new Specialist Chambers, which will try former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters.
War victims’ groups and Pristina-based rights campaigners criticised recent attempts by MPs in Pristina to revoke a law which allows the new Kosovo Specialist Chambers to operate.
The president of the Association of Missing and Kidnapped Persons from Kosovo and Metohija, Ranko Djinovic, said that repealing the law would be an “injustice”.
By: Aidan Hehir
Whatever one thinks of the Court, to disband it would have enormously grave repercussions for Kosovo’s international status.
MP Daut Haradinaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army fighter and brother of the prime minister, said that arrests by the new Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers would cause a major backlash.
Daut Haradinaj, an Alliance for the Future of Kosovo MP who also is the brother of PM Ramush Haradinaj and fought with the Kosovo Liberation Army, told Klan Kosova TV on Wednesday that arrests by the new Specialist Chambers would cause a huge backlash from former KLA members.
Serbian Justice Minister, Nela Kuburovic told RTS Serbia remains committed to achieving the justice for Serbian victims of the war crimes, pointing out that the Serbian victims did not find the justice before the international bodies.
Kuburovic made these remarks during the visit to the Memorial Room of Kosovo victims, adding that the first indictments at the Special Court for KLA crimes are expected at the beginning of the next year, RTS further reported.
RTK carries on its website an extensive interview of the former judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in Hague, Wolfgang Schomburg. Asked about Special Court for Kosovo, Schomburg said “yes it is true that a Special Court for Kosovo is created. Please do not ask me what the meaning of such court is,” he said.
The Ambassador of the Great Britain to Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, left the room where a debate on the Special Court was taking place, when Kosovo’s President, Hashim Thaci, criticized harshly the international community. He said the international community betrayed Kosovo, because they had promised liberalization of visas, membership at UNESCO and European Council in exchange for the Special Court.