Specialist Prosecutor’s Office files new indictment against ex-KLA leaders

English

Gazeta Express

03/05/2022 16:58

On 29 April 2022, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) has filed an amended indictment with the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

A redacted version of the new indictment has been published Monday in the official website of the KSC. In the new indictment Specialist Prosecutor Jack Smith has included some of the alleged crimes committed in Suhareka and Gjilan, accusing former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) of being responsible for these crimes. The new indictment is less confidential and is not heavily redacted comparing with previous documents published by the SPO.

As in initial indictment, the SPO accuses Thaci, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi of illegal or arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder. The SPO in its amended indictment mentions crimes allegedly committed by ex-KLA members in several houses.

“KLA members deprived at least 12 persons of their liberty without due process of law by detaining them in locations in Budakovë and Semetishtë at various times between about 4 July 1998 and 29 April 1999. On or around 4 July 1998 [REDACTED] was driving [REDACTED] on a tiller when, close to the entrance to [REDACTED], the three men were stopped by [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] who were wearing black uniforms and carried automatic rifles and magnum revolvers. A third person in black uniform arrived and stood in front of [REDACTED] with a rocket launcher which he pointed at them,” according to the amended indictment.

According to the SPO amended indictment, ex-KLA members, without mentioning their names, are accused of causing serious mental or physical suffering or injury or constitutes a serious attack on human dignity. In the amended indictment are included also killings allegedly committed in Budajova and Semetishte. “The corpses of [REDACTED] were found on or around 23 August 1998 in the vicinity of [REDACTED], with their arms tied and injuries including gunshots attributed to a weapon belonging to [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] was not informed of where the bodies were taken subsequent to their discovery, so he went to look for them in different cemeteries and found a sign with their names on it [REDACTED] and he then informed the authorities about this location. DNA analysis confirmed that one of the corpses buried [REDACTED] was [REDACTED],” it is written in the indictment files.

According to the indictment certain KLA members detained at least three persons without due process of law at a KLA headquarters located in a former boarding school and dormitory in Gjilan.

“In late July 1999, [REDACTED] was taken by car from his place of work to the Dormitory in Gjilan. At the Dormitory, he was searched and his car keys and identification card were taken and his driver’s license was torn apart. [REDACTED] was held in a basement under guard and his hands were tied. He was not told of the reason for his detention or arrest and was not accused of having committed any crime,” it is written in the indictment.

“[REDACTED] who was taken from his home on [REDACTED] July 1999, along with his next-door neighbour, [REDACTED] and a relative, [REDACTED], by three or four men in black and by his neighbor, [REDACTED]. While the women were released once they arrived near the Dormitory, [REDACTED] was not seen again until his body was found in June 2000,” is stated in the indictment.

The indictment against the four accused was confirmed on 26 October 2020 and made public on 5 November 2020. Following their arrest by the Specialist Prosecutor, Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi were transferred to the Detention Facilities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on 4 and 5 November 2020. The indictment states that the crimes charged were committed from at least March 1998 through September 1999 and took place in several locations across Kosovo as well as in Kukës and Cahan, in Northern Albania. They were allegedly committed by members of the KLA against hundreds of civilians and persons not taking part in hostilities. The indictment alleges that Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi are individually criminally responsible, pursuant to various forms of criminal responsibility for crimes, which were committed in the context of a non-international armed conflict in Kosovo and were part of a widespread and systematic attack against persons suspected of being opposed to the KLA. /GazetaExpress/