In a press conference today, the general secretary of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Fidelma Donlon, said this mechanism will officially begin work early next year while the recently-appointed chief prosecutor of the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, David Schwendiman, said that it is not yet known how many indictment the court will file against former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) accused in the Council of Europe report of serious crimes.  He said however that he will fearlessly pursue all allegations of crime.

The first indictments for war crimes of the KLA likely to be raised by year-end, writes daily Politika.

According to unofficial information of the Fund for Humanitarian Law, Politika writes, so far have been prepared indictments against eight persons.

The Association of KLA War Veterans, the branch in Podujevo, has called on Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) MP, Nuredin Ibishi, not to vote in favor of the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. Avni Ajeti, a KLA war invalid, told Indeksonline: “Nuredin Ibishi knows that the border delineation with Montenegro is wrong and yet again he has decided to vote in favor of the agreement. If he knows that the border delineation is wrong, he should not vote in favor.

Smajl Elezaj, chairman of the War Veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army, said in an interview for the news site that the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) should not have executive competencies. “As War Veterans, four years ago we called for the end of EULEX. Even if Kosovo’s institutions decide that the mission should still be here, we believe that it should only have an advisory role and no executive competencies,” Elezaj said. “The time has come for our judiciary to assume competencies.

Kosovo's Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, welcomed the verdict of the Court of Appeals in the Klecka case, saying that it is the best evidence of the righteous and clean fight of the former Kosovo Liberation Army. The Court of Appeals recently acquitted Fatmir Limaj, leader of the Initiative for Kosovo, and his fellow combatants, who were accused of war crimes. Veseli wrote in a Facebook post: “I welcome the final verdict of the Court of Appeals in the so-called Klecka case. This verdict proves once again that our fight was righteous and clean.

MP and former Kosovo Liberation Army commander, Fatmir Limaj, who is already on trial for war crimes, has been questioned by prosecutors in Pristina about another wartime case.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-limaj-questioned-by-for-war-crimes-in-kosovo-05-13-2016

Dick Marty has warned that "some people" who were to testify before a new court for KLA crimes "have already been killed."

The Swiss Senator and former Council of Europe (CoE) Special Rapporteur spoke a day after the killing of Bedri Curri, a former KLA member and potential witness for the court. Curri's body was found last week near Glogovac in Kosovo.

Kosovo’s President-elect Hashim Thaci has ruled out claims that he could have been involved in war crimes committed during the Kosovo conflict again.

Serbian media are reporting that refugees are travelling through Kosovo to Central Europe. Is there a new refugee route here?

Pristina (AFP) - Kosovo's president-elect has pledged to "fully support" a new war crimes court prosecuting members of the guerrilla group he once led -- despite a question mark hanging over whether he himself will be indicted.

Hashim Thaci, elected by parliament in February as the next head of state, made his name as political leader of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought against Serbia for independence in the late 1990s.

Kosovo, over the past few months, has lost several diplomatic battles, leading to the frustration of the people of Kosovo, especially the opposition. The high level of support that Kosovo has had over the last fifteen years from Western countries culminated in 2008, when Kosovo declared independence.