ICTY convicts Kosovo Albanian editor for naming witness in Haradinaj case
The International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague convicted and fined on Thursday a Kosovo Albanian editor and journalist 7,000 euros for publishing the name of a witness who testified under anonymity in the trial of Kosovo’s former primer minister Ramush Haradinaj.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, July 24, 2008
Baton Haxhiu, editor of the daily Kosovo Express, was convicted of contempt of court for endangering the witness and his family.
The witness had testified under a pseudonym and with his face and voice distorted, but Haxhiu pleaded non guilty of contempt of court, arguing the witness' identity was already known.
Haradinaj was acquitted of all charges of war crimes committed against Serbs in 1998-99 after a controversial investigation and trial during which nine key witnesses were murdered and many more harassed.
Presiding judge Alfons Orie said Haxhiu's actions undermined confidence in the tribunal's protective measures and could dissuade witnesses from cooperating with the tribunal.
The editor had faced a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment and a 100,000 euros fine.
He is one of six Kosovo Albanians charged with contempt of court in the trial of Haradinaj.
Haxhiu previously had appeared at the tribunal as a prosecution witness in two other trials, and Orie said judges took his previous cooperation with prosecutors into account when setting his fine.
