Prosecutors urged the Kosovo Specialist Chambers to jail the leaders of Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans’ Organisation for six years for obstruction of justice and witness intimidation.
This post is also available in this language: Shqip Bos/Hrv/Srp
Prosecutor Matt Halling in court on Thursday. Photo: Kosovo Specialist Chambers/Livestream.
In closing statements on Thursday, the prosecution asked the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague to sentence the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans’ Organisation, Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj, to six years’ imprisonment and a 100 euro fine each.
“The accused are unique because they do not regret [what they did], they have gone further and have said they would commit this crime or another crime if given the opportunity, again in the future,” prosecutor Jack Smith told the court.
Gucati and Haradinaj are on trial for obstruction of justice and witness intimidation. They were charged after they received batches of legal documents leaked from the Specialist Chambers, which contained confidential information about protected witnesses in cases against KLA ex-guerrillas, and urged media in Kosovo to publish extracts from them. They both pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution claims that Gucati and Haradinaj, the leader and deputy leader of the KLA War Veterans’ Organisation, were trying to undermine the Specialist Chambers by making the leaked files public.
Gucati and Haradinaj believe the Hague court is biased because it was set up to try ethnic Albanian KLA fighters, not Serbs who committed the majority of crimes during the Kosovo war.
Prosecutor James Pace said that imprisonment is the correct and necessary punishment, arguing that the court should not consider the option of only issuing a fine.
“The [judging] panel should not put a monetary value on committing the crimes the accused are charged with,” Pace said.
According to Pace, Gucati and Haradinaj acted intentionally to hamper the work of the court and to intimidate witnesses.
But their defence argued against a prison sentence, with Haradinaj’s lawyer, Toby Cadman, calling the prosecution’s case “rotten”.
“[Haradinaj] is a whistleblower, he did his job to find the truth, and we ask the judging panel to address the public interest,” Cadman said.
The Specialist Chambers were set up, under pressure from Kosovo’s Western allies, to try crimes allegedly committed during and just after the Kosovo war from 1998 to 2000.
Witness protection has been a key concern for the Specialist Chambers after incidents of witness-tampering at previous trials of KLA commanders.
NOTE: This article was updated on March 17, 2022, to correct the spelling of James Pace’s name and identify Matt Halling as the prosecutor in the photograph.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
