Top Channel publishes the Hague war crime indictment against Kosovo President, other KLA top commanders

Gazeta Express

22/09/2020 16:51

Albanian media Top Channel has published parts of the indictment the Hague-based Specialist Prosecutor’s office (SPO) has filed against Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, PDK leader Kadri Veseli and other former top commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The Tirana based media claims to possess a 260-page file labelled as “confidential” by the Hague prosecutors.

The SPO in June issued a statement confirming filing of an indictment against Thaci and Veseli which is yet to be officially confirmed or dismissed by a pre-trial judge of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. According to the Top Channel, in addition to Thaci and Veseli, in the indictment are mentioned three other ex-KLA senior commanders: Azem Syla, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

Leaking of the proposed indictment was also announced by the KLA veterans who received again Thursday the Special Court files anonymously. Leaking of the files forced the Hague investigators to knock again today at the KLA Veterans Organisation office to confiscate the received materials.

On 24 June the SPO issued a statement saying that its prosecutors havefiled a ten-count Indictment with the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) for the Court’s consideration, charging Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, and others with a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture.

The Indictment alleges that Thaci, Veseli, and the other charged suspects are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders. The crimes alleged in the Indictment involve hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents. The Specialist Prosecutor in the press release said that it has deemed it necessary to issue this public notice of charges because of repeated efforts by Thaci and Veseli to obstruct and undermine the work of the Specialist Chambers. The Specialist Chambers has not published any indictment yet.

Top Channel article can be found HERE