Kosovo government creates group to support KLA leaders’ appeals — Balkan Insight
In Pristina, the Kosovo government approved the creation of a working group to support the appeals of four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), convicted by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. As Balkan Insight reports, the decision was made on October 14.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the authorities consider the first-instance court verdict legally and morally unjust, as well as factually and historically inaccurate. The working group will be headed by First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca. It is to include representatives of state institutions and parliament.
Sentences for former KLA leaders
On September 16, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers found former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, former parliament speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, as well as former lawmaker Rexhep Selimi, guilty. They were found guilty of unlawful deprivation of liberty, cruel treatment, torture and murder during the Kosovo war from April 1998 to June 20, 1999, in Kosovo and at several locations in Albania.
Thaçi and Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years, and Selimi to 13 years. The convicted men’s defense teams said they were preparing a legal challenge to the verdict.
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Criticism of the court and protests
Protests took place in Kosovo after the verdict was announced. On October 5, they turned violent: participants demanded that parliament amend legislation to limit the court’s jurisdiction. The following day, lawmakers voted for the relevant changes, but critics believe they have not yet been implemented and will not necessarily affect the court’s work.
Kosovo Ombudsperson Naim Qelaj also called for external oversight of the court, which is funded by the European Union. He said that the Specialist Chambers had not been under the democratic control of Kosovo’s institutions, which, in his view, resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability. Qelaj said he had sent his remarks to Parliament Speaker Albena Haxhiu, Prime Minister Kurti, Kosovo President Justina Shiroki-Pula, Specialist Chambers President Ekaterina Trendafilova, and the Council of the EU.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers are a hybrid court formally belonging to Kosovo’s judicial system, but located in The Hague and staffed by international personnel. The court was established in 2015 under pressure from Kosovo’s Western allies.
