World’s Eyes on Kosovo Amid Push to Halt War Crimes Court
- 6 years ago
World’s Eyes on Kosovo Amid Push to Halt War Crimes Court
The United States said in a Jan. 4 statement signed by Germany, Britain, Italy and France
that any move to stop the court’s work risked "all that Kosovo has achieved." "We condemn such a move, and anyone who supports it will be rejecting Kosovo’s partnership with our countries," the statement added, warning of "severe negative consequences" — including Kosovo’s integration into the European Union and NATO.
13, 2018
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Efforts by Kosovo to suspend a war crimes court set up to prosecute atrocities committed by ethnic Albanians during their independence
struggle are threatening relations with Western allies who backed Kosovo’s split from Serbia, European and American officials have warned.
He added that his movement, which has 32 seats in Parliament, would not cease its efforts to bring the country’s current leaders to justice for what he said were "crimes committed in peacetime."
The court is supposed to conduct trials stemming from a three-year criminal investigation by a European Union task force set up in 2011 and led by an American diplomat, Clint Williamson.
members had persecuted ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanian political opponents after the 1998-99 Kosovo war, and
that they had singled out minority populations with acts that included "unlawful killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions in camps in Kosovo and Albania." The task force accused Mr. Thaci of having led a crime network, the Drenica Group, that flourished in Kosovo and Albania and smuggled human organs, weapons and heroin during and after the war.
commanders, including Mr. Thaci, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj
and the Parliament speaker, Kadri Veseli, are said to be spearheading the efforts to repeal the law regulating the court, known officially as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.
"Nobody," he added, "got a blank check on war crimes." But Mr. Thaci told the Voice of America’s Albanian Service on Wednesday
that he would be bound by the Constitution to sign any legislation to abolish the court if Parliament passed the measure.
The United States said in a Jan. 4 statement signed by Germany, Britain, Italy and France
that any move to stop the court’s work risked "all that Kosovo has achieved." "We condemn such a move, and anyone who supports it will be rejecting Kosovo’s partnership with our countries," the statement added, warning of "severe negative consequences" — including Kosovo’s integration into the European Union and NATO.
13, 2018
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — Efforts by Kosovo to suspend a war crimes court set up to prosecute atrocities committed by ethnic Albanians during their independence
struggle are threatening relations with Western allies who backed Kosovo’s split from Serbia, European and American officials have warned.
He added that his movement, which has 32 seats in Parliament, would not cease its efforts to bring the country’s current leaders to justice for what he said were "crimes committed in peacetime."
The court is supposed to conduct trials stemming from a three-year criminal investigation by a European Union task force set up in 2011 and led by an American diplomat, Clint Williamson.
members had persecuted ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanian political opponents after the 1998-99 Kosovo war, and
that they had singled out minority populations with acts that included "unlawful killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions in camps in Kosovo and Albania." The task force accused Mr. Thaci of having led a crime network, the Drenica Group, that flourished in Kosovo and Albania and smuggled human organs, weapons and heroin during and after the war.
commanders, including Mr. Thaci, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj
and the Parliament speaker, Kadri Veseli, are said to be spearheading the efforts to repeal the law regulating the court, known officially as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.
"Nobody," he added, "got a blank check on war crimes." But Mr. Thaci told the Voice of America’s Albanian Service on Wednesday
that he would be bound by the Constitution to sign any legislation to abolish the court if Parliament passed the measure.