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.

Head of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans’ Association, Hysni Gucati, said in a press conference that they consider the specialist chambers to be a biased institution and that it needs to try all those that have committed crimes, including Serbs. Gucati said they have decided to launch a petition against the specialist chambers to have the Assembly reexamine the issue.

Koha reports that the special court for Kosovo is now up and running following the adoption of the rules of procedure and evidence by specialist chambers judges today. In a press release issued by the Specialist Chambers, the set or rules are described as aiming to enhance the fairness, expeditiousness, efficiency, integrity and security of the proceedings before the Specialist Chambers, while complying with the Constitution and the highest human rights standards.

The government of Kosovo has set aside over €1.5 million for legal aid to persons that could be indicted by specialist chamber. The funds were allocated in accordance to a legislation stipulating that persons indicted by the court could seek assistance in covering their legal fees. Analyst Imer Mushkolaj considers funding of legal assistance for special court indictees to be unacceptable. He said the indictees should not be paying their defence counsels from the Kosovo taxpayers’ money.

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.

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic says he is satisfied that amendments that will pave the way to establish a special court have been adopted.

"Of course we're satisfied, it was uncertain until the very end. Until the last moment we did not know whether we will have enough votes," he said.

Stojanovic told B92 late on Monday that he "hoped the law will also be adopted during the session this evening," and that "the decision (on the amendments) was significantly influenced by the international community."

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa met today with United States Congressman Elliot Engel in Pristina and discussed on-going processes in Kosovo, reforms being made by the Kosovo government, the implementation of international obligations and Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic prospects. Mustafa thanked Engel and the United States administration for their continuous support for Kosovo. Mustafa and Engel also discussed on the creation of the specialist chambers and their importance for Kosovo.