By Qerim Ondozi
Statement by the War Veterans’ Organization of the Kosovo Liberation Army: Who is to blame?
Member of the Kosovo Assembly Daut Haradinaj says that "the first arrest for the special court" would "activate" the former KLA ("Kosovo Liberation Army.")
The brother of the Kosovo Prime Minister is mentioned as one of the first former members of the KLA to be brought before the Specialist Chambers, set up to deal with the crimes committed by the KLA during and after the war in Kosovo.
Some people are trying to escape from responsibility for 17 years, says Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric on the occasion of the attempt to abolish the KLA Special War Crimes Court.
"War crime does not become obsolete, they can try to buy another month, another year, but sooner or later the truth will appear about what happened," Djuric told Belgrade based TV Prva.
Former KLA commander and Deputy Minister of the Security Forces of Kosovo Agim Ceku told RTV Kim in the TV Show ''Dogovor!?'' that he is ready to defend himself before the Special Court, in case he would be one of the war crimes suspects, reports KIM radio portal.
Agim Ceku is just one of the Albanian officials mentioned by media in Kosovo and Serbia as potential suspect before the court, reports KIM radio.
On her first official visit to Pristina, the president of the new Kosovo Specialist Chambers, established to prosecute wartime and post-war crimes, said witnesses will be protected.
Ekaterina Trendafilova, the president of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which will try former Kosovo Liberation Army members for wartime and post-war abuses, promised during a visit to Pristina on Thursday that the new Hague-based court will ensure the safety of those who testify.
By: Shkelzen Gashi
The new Special Court to try former Kosovo Liberation Army members for wartime and post-war crimes is not an attack on the struggle for independence, but an attempt to prosecute criminals.
The majority of people in Kosovo believe that the Special Court is an unfair creation, but the blame for its establishment, first and foremost, lies with us.
Discussing the role of the Kosovo Specialist court at the public presentation of the report “Public Perception of the Kosovo Specialist Court: Risks and Opportunities”, organized by NGOs PAX, Integra, and Center for Peace and Tolerance, President Thaçi criticized the one-sidedness of the “mono-ethnic” court and slammed the international community for falling short of fulfilling their part of the “bargain”.
Journalist of Radio-Television of Vojvodina Ljubica Gojgić assesses in a show "Dan uživo" of regional TV N1 that from the political assessment will depend which names will be found on the first indictments of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, N1 reports.
By Qerim Ondozi
Statement by the War Veterans’ Organization of the Kosovo Liberation Army: Who is to blame?
Kosovo Liberation Army ex-fighter Xhemshit Krasniqi, who was convicted of abuse and torture at detention camps in Kosovo and Albania, had his prison sentence reduced on appeal to seven years.
More than 160 persons of the Albanian nationality are charged for the war crimes in Kosovo at the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution, Blic daily wrote on weekend.
These persons, mainly members of the KLA, are suspected of committing the crimes against Serbs and non-Albanian population during the conflict in Kosovo, since the end of 1997 till the end of NATO bombardment in 1999.
Investigations in Serbia are also carried out against Hashim Thaci, current Kosovo President and Ramush Haradinaj.