Hague grants Haradinaj temporary release
A similar request was denied to his former fellow KLA member Lahi Brahimaj, the court said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, December 09, 2010
The ethnic Albanian - a member of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) turned politician in the wake of the 1999 war - is undergoing a partial retrial accused of committing war crimes against the province's Serbs, Roma and Albanians in 1998.
The case was sent to retrial due irregularities in the original process which saw him acquitted of all charges. Witness intimidation was listed among the irregularities.
The prosecution opposed Haradinaj's temporary release motion, saying that granting it would pose a risk to the integrity of the proceedings.
The prosecution argued that witness intimidation remained a prevalent feature in Kosovo, and that Haradinaj still remained "a highly prominent figure in the region".
But Trial Chamber, however, said that Haradinaj would not pose a danger to any victim, witness or other person, while it assessed Brahimaj, if released, could pose such a threat.
The prosecution asserted that the prominence of the accused would be heightened during the forthcoming election period, recommending that Haradinaj and Brahimaj should not be granted provisional release in the period before the December 12 elections, in which Haradinaj's party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, also runs.
