Vetevendosje officials said in a debate on the specialist chambers and its relations with Kosovo institutions that although they consider the court to be political and aimed at “distorting” the fight for freedom led by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the initiative for its abrogation is not right.
Serbian Justice Minister, Nela Kuburovic told BETA news agency she expect the Special Court for KLA crime would soon begin to operate.
Kuburovic also said, she believes the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels would continue.
“I believe the Specialist Chambers would soon start working and that the justice to the victims will be served,” Kuburovic said.
She added, that an initiative to abrogate the Special Court would not be able to prevent the work of that court as there is an international agreement on its establishment.
Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) MP, Haxhi Shala, said in an interview to RTK that his party will not support initiative for abrogation of the law on specialist chambers. Shala said the party MPs signed the initiative at its outset thinking it was part of the petition launched by KLA associations to amend the existing law. “We support amending the law so that it investigates all those who committed crimes in Kosovo but not abrogating it,” Shala said.
Head of the EU Office in Kosovo and Special Representative, Nataliya Apostolova, said today at the presentation of priorities during the Bulgarian presidency of the EU that the possible abrogation of the specialist chambers would have serious consequences in Kosovo’s EU integration process.
Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, in an interview to the Albanian-based Report TV, spoke about Kosovo and the initiative to abrogate law on specialist chambers which he said was “orchestrated”. At the same time, he said allegations against KLA commanders in the Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty’s report are “science fiction”.
Online media report that the Kosovo Assembly presidency has decided to send the initiative for abrogation of the specialist chambers to the government of Kosovo for review. Head of Vetevendosje parliamentary group, Glauk Konjufca, told reporters after the meeting of the presidency that the ball is now in the government’s turf.
Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lutfi Haziri, told RTV Dukagjini that the law on specialist chambers cannot be abrogated through initiatives brought before the Assembly as this could cause “legal chaos”. He said Kosovo could have preceded the establishment of specialist chambers by setting up a court of its own to deal with allegations of crimes contained in the Council of Europe report but that such an initiative did not encounter support back in 2015.
Head of Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) national council and party co-founder, Jakup Krasniqi, said in a Facebook post that now is not the right time to oppose the specialist chambers. Instead, now is the time to confront “Zeus’ lightning bolts” no matter how scorching they are.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said Kosovo is ready to shed light to allegations of crimes committed by certain individuals, part of the KLA. “It is also in the interest of Kosovo to shed light to any suspicion regarding the past. We have so far done this with utmost honour in all instances. Kosovo will always be ready to show the truth about the glorious KLA fight for freedom,” Haradinaj told reporters yesterday. His comments come as a response to a question regarding the statement of the U.S.
Kallxo reports that European Union considers the initiative for repealing the specialist chambers to be “dangerous” while the head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova, said such a move would undermine Kosovo’s credibility. “Abrogation of Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecution Office would be a dangerous move undermining rule of law and credibility of Kosovo as EU partner. I call on political leaders to put national interest first and work for the common good and further European integration,” Apostolova wrote in a Twitter post.