ICTY prosecution appeals Haradinaj's acquittal

02/05/2008

Appealing parts of the acquittal of three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, including former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, UN prosecutors called Friday for their retrial on six war crimes charges.

(AP, DPA, B92 - 02/05/08; AP, AFP, VOA, B92, Balkan Insight - 01/05/08; Reuters, BBC, SENSE, ICTY - 03/04/08)

Former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj enters the courtroom to hear his verdict at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague on April 3rd. [Getty Images]

UN prosecutors appealed Friday (May 2nd) parts of the acquittal of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

A month after the trial, they urged judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to reopen the case on six of the 37 counts of war crimes they faced. Prosecutors, who had sought 25-year jail sentences for each of the accused -- Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj -- cited witness intimidation as a factor in the trial.

"Within the next 75 days, a more extensive document will follow; it will speak in detail about all the arguments the prosecution will use," Belgrade-based B92 quoted chief UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz's spokeswoman, Olga Kavran, as saying Friday.

On April 3rd, a three-member panel acquitted Haradinaj and Balaj of all charges, while Brahimaj received a six-year sentence for torture and cruelty.

Prosecutors accused the three of participation between March and September 1998 in a joint criminal enterprise, whose aim was to ensure the KLA's total control over the Dukagjin operative zone. They also alleged that, to achieve that goal, Haradinaj and his associates committed a host of war crimes, including murder, unlawful removal, torture and rape of ethnic Serb and Roma civilians, as well as of Kosovo Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbian forces.

Haradinaj, the overall commander of KLA forces in the Dukagjin area at that time, was prime minister of Kosovo in March 2005, when the ICTY unsealed his indictment. He resigned immediately and surrendered voluntarily to The Hague.

At the end of the trial last month, presiding Judge Alphons Orie alleged witness intimidation throughout the process. Some witnesses refused to testify. Of the 81 people who gave evidence, 34 had protected status.

Evidence presented by the prosecution "did not always allow the chamber to conclude whether a crime was committed or whether the KLA was involved as alleged," the judges said.

The verdict took severe criticism from Belgrade, with Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica describing it as a "mockery of justice".

When Brammertz visited Belgrade after replacing Carla del Ponte, Serbian President Boris Tadic voiced hope that the UN prosecution would appeal the verdict.

"My office is currently studying the 300-page judgment to assess possible grounds to appeal," the Belgian lawyer said.

UN prosecutors, Brammertz noted, expressed discontent with the judges' ruling. They could not present all of their evidence, as several witnesses refused to show up in court. Kavran said Friday that appeals had no deadline but that the decision process "could take months or over a year".