Hague court denies Kosovo war court prosecutor will step down to join Trump’s campaign

Gazeta Express

08/06/2020 14:09

The Press Service of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office at the Hague denied claims of Blerim Latifi, former political advisor to Kadri Veseli, that the Chief Prosecutor jack Smith will step down to join US presidential election campaign.  

Spokesperson of the SPO, Christopher Bennett, told Gazeta Express on Monday that Latifi’s claims that Smith will resign are incorrect. “The report is incorrect,” Bennett told briefly to Gazeta Express.

Latifi in a Facebook post said the US prosecutor Jack Smith is expected to resign to join President Donald Trump’s election campaign. He also claimed that a new chief prosecutor is not expected to be appointed until after US election. “Some time ago it was announced that the first indictments by the Specialist Chambers could be filed this summer! Things have apparently changed,” said Latifi. “The chief prosecutor of Specialist Chambers Jack Smith is expected to resign, most likely to join President Trump’s election campaign. As the US election is approaching, the new chief prosecutor is not expected to be appointed until the elections are held. As a result, in the absence of the chief prosecutor, eventual indictments are likely to be postponed until next year.”

In February 2020 the Chief Prosecutor Smith informed the President of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers of his intent to file indictments and asked assigning of a pre-trial judge to as required by the Law. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office are established by the Kosovo Parliament and deal with alleged crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) from 1998-2000. /GazetaExpress/