Kosovo Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) Director Bekim Blakaj said in “Slobodno srpski” broadcast that Flora Brovina, member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) should have resigned after publicly displaying a photo for which she claimed represents a raping of an Albanian woman by the Serbian army, which later turned out to be a hoax and the photo was in fact taken from a porn site in Iraq.
The Kosovo Government has paid €500,000 to the company of Cherie Blair, the wife of Tony Blair, for legal counseling on the Special Court, Pristina-based television T7 claims, Gazeta Express portal reported.
Although all contracts between the Kosovo Government and international companies are confidential, Kosovo Minister of Justice, Abelard Tahiri confirmed for T7 that the government is receiving advisory services on how to behave towards Serbia during this process.
In addition, Kosovo also has advisers regarding documents and rules of the Special Court.
Pristina journalist Vehbi Kajtazi said he believes Kosovo President Hashim Thaci would go to The Hauge, adding he believes the Special Court for KLA crimes would make no sense, if Thaci is not indicted, Tanjug news agency reported.
According to Tanjug, Kajtazi said this in “Pressing” broadcast on TV 7. “I expect (Hashim) Thaci to be indicted and to go to the Hague in March, he could be questioned in March,” Kajtazi said.
In his outgoing address as Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor, David Schwendiman said that gathering evidence and locating witnesses to indict former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army had been tough.
In his parting speech, the chief prosecutor at the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers, David Schwendiman, said on Thursday that his office had collected a mass of evidence – but repeated that the court was not set up to "change history" or put one ethnicity on trial.
Serbian national broadcaster RTS reported that 39 lawyers who will work with the Special Court for the KLA crimes were selected and three Kosovo Serbs, Dejan Vasić, Ljubomir Pantović and Nebojša Vlajić are among them.
Speaking at the RTS morning news, lawyer Nebojša Vlajić said that the appointment of lawyers and victims’ representatives (lawyers) is a prerequisite for the court to start working, but it is not yet known when the first indictments will be filed.
Serbian media widely re-run The Guardian article saying that David Schwendiman, chief prosecutor of a war crimes court for Kosovo, said he was "made to leave the job at a critical stage of the tribunal’s work."
Schwendiman also added he has "no designated successor - largely due to inertia in the US State Department," the article continued.
UNMIK Head, Zahir Tanin assessed yesterday as concerning attempts from the part of Kosovo authorities to revoke Special Court for KLA war crimes, murder of Oliver Ivanovic and the fact that the Brussels agreement is not fully implemented, in particular when it comes to the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, Serbian media report today.
Addressing Security Council members Tanin said that establishment of the Special Court represented a major step for Kosovo.
Report on Kosovo is ready and the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gutters would present it to the Security Council on February 7, Serbian national broadcaster, RTS writes on its webpage.
The report notes the murder of Oliver Ivanovic as one of the most difficult events in the last three months. Gutters also criticizes authorities in Pristina, saying “there are setbacks” in relation to the Special Court for KLA crimes and that only 498 people returned to Kosovo in 2017, which is the lowest number since 2000, RTS reports.
Serbian Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin said that destabilization in Kosovo and Metohija is caused by murders such as the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic and attempts of Albanians to abrogate the Special Court and do not allow trials against KLA members for the war crimes against Serbs, RTS reported.
The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie, spoke at a press conference about the importance of the Special Court.
He once again expressed condolences for the murder of the Serb leader, Oliver Ivanovic, and added that he is there to talk about a completely different matter.