„The judicial confirmation of the indictment against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi for Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes was a huge step forward in the effort to secure justice for the victims of crimes committed during the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo,” Clint Williamson assessed in a statement for KoSSev. Williamson thanked the victims, witnesses, and fellow prosecutors for their commitment to this judicial process, while also encouraging them to see the process through.
“These victims, who included Kosovo Serbs, Roma and other minorities, and Kosovo Albanians who were deemed to be political opponents of the accused, have waited patiently for years to see those who perpetrated crimes against them held to account,” the chief prosecutor of the EU Special Investigative Task Force, Clint Williamson told KoSSev, whose report practically confirmed Dick Marty’s famous report based on which the Special Court was formed.
Clint Williamson was the chief prosecutor of the European Union’s Special Task Force for Crimes in Kosovo committed since 1999. The team was formed after the former Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty wrote a report in which he linked KLA leaders to serious crimes in Kosovo and organ trafficking.
In 2014, Williamson claimed that he and his team did not find sufficient evidence at the time to initiate an indictment for organ trafficking, but also that the findings were in line with Dick Marty’s report, and that the evidence obtained was sufficient to issue indictments. Shortly afterward, the process of forming the Special Court took place.
As of this week, the former Kosovo president and his former war and political comrades are in the custody of the Specialist Chambers for Crimes in Kosovo, while more indictments are expected to be confirmed.
“The defendants are entitled to a fair and objective trial and I am confident that the Court will deliver that outcome. While this indictment is a major step in that direction, the judicial process must still play out and this will take time,” Williamson underlined.
The US prosecutor also conveyed a message to those victims, survivors, and witnesses who cooperated with the investigation he headed at the EU Special Investigative Task Force, and who provided evidence to his successors.
“I want to thank you for your commitment to this judicial process and encourage you to see the process through by providing testimony, or otherwise assisting the Court, when called upon to do so,” he stressed.
Williamson encouraged the people of Kosovo – Serbs and Albanians alike – to see this indictment against the five former top KLA officials and the trial that will follow as “a vehicle to address these unresolved issues from the conflict and to help Kosovars put this painful chapter from their past behind them.”
More than five years after Williamson’s report, the Special Prosecutor’s Office drafted and the Special Court confirmed the first indictments against former KLA member Salih Mustafa in June, and against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi in late October.
Hashim Thaci and Jakup Krasniqi will appear in court for the first time on Monday, Kadri Veseli on Tuesday, and Rexhep Selimi on Wednesday. The procedure against Salih Mustafa started in late September. Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj are still awaiting an indictment related to obstruction of justice, in connection with the recent affair of leaked court documents.
Ambassador Clint Williamson is currently Senior Director for International Rule of Law, Governance and Security with The McCain Institute and Distinguished Professor of Practice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Arizona State University – Washington, DC.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
