Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for KLA crimes, Jack Smith pays his first visit in Kosovo, his spokesperson Christopher Bennett said, BETA news agency reported.

In a brief statement sent to the media it was said, that Smith “would take part in a series of meetings with international and Kosovo officials.”

“During the visit, Smith would meet heads of international organizations, representatives of EU member states, Kosovo Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri and high officials of the Ministry of Justice,” the statement added.

The President of the Assembly of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli, said after the meeting of Assembly Presidency that he does not know when the agreement for demarcation of the border with Montenegro will reach the Assembly session for ratification, since the commission has not mentioned any date.

Speaking about the initiative for abrogating law on specialist chambers, Veseli said they have sent the matter to the government of Kosovo for review.

Head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Avdullah Hoti, said that sending the initiative for the abrogation of the Special Court to the government, happened without the presence of the representatives of his political party at the Assembly presidency meeting.

According to him, such decision was made with the help of the Serbian List. He added that the position of the LDK on abrogation of the Special Court remains the same.

Srpska Lista is against an initiative to revoke the Special Court and the stance of Serb political representatives about it is clear and unequivocal Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communities and Returns, Dalibor Jevtic told representatives of French-German delegation visiting Kosovo, Serbian media reported.

Jevtic met yesterday the Germany's Envoy for South-Eastern Europe, Turkey and the EFTA States, Christian Hellbach, and the Head of the French Foreign Ministry's Western Balkans Department, Thomas Bertin.

Victims of the war crimes committed in Kosovo between 1998 and 1999, would be able to participate, through representatives, in the proceedings of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, KIM Radio reported.

The proceedings would take place in The Hague, while the victims of the war crimes would be able to, based on the court’s verdicts, receive compensations for the losses or injuries they had sustained.

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.

President of the Special Court for War Crimes in Kosovo, Ekaterina Trendafilova will visit Kosovo next week for the first time, KIM Radio reports, referring to the Pristina-based Gazeta Express.

Her visit is related to the investigations of the crimes allegedly committed during the conflict in 1998/1999 that this court is carrying out, KIM Radio further said.

It is not known yet when the first indictment would be raised, although it was announced it will happen by the end of autumn this year.

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.