Vekaric: Ominous hints from ICTY
Serbian Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekaric Wednesday warned of “ominous hints” coming from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) concerning the case of Ramus Haradinaj, a former commander of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, who is on trial for crimes committed in the Jablanica camp in 1998.
(KosovoCompromiseStuff) Thursday, November 29, 2012
He recalled the fact that the ICTY allowed Haradinaj to engage in politics while on trial, adding that that and the announcement made about Haradinaj returning to politics soon were pointing to "something that might happen at the tribunal (on Thursday)."
Vekaric told Belgrade-based broadcaster B92 that such things had already happened in the previous phase of the trial (when Haradinaj was acquitted of all accusations) and that someone from The Hague tribunal should explain it away.
"Just imagine they let Vojislav Seselj (leader of the Serbian Radical Party, in ICTY detention for 10 years by now) be involved in politics before a verdict has been reached against him," the Serbian deputy prosecutor for war crimes said.
He said that Tahir Zemaj, who had given "a big testimony" against Haradinaj, had been killed in "the most brutal way possible," adding that 18 other people had met the same fortune.
"When you kill 19 people who have a direct or indirect knowledge of someone's crimes, you really do not have a case in the legal terms," said Vekaric.
He said that the Serbian war crimes prosecution linked Haradinaj to a total of 78 war crime events in three cases, including murders of 70 people in Kosovo-Metohija, All the evidence was available to the ICTY prosecution.
On Thursday, the ICTY will reach a new first-instance verdict against Haradinaj, Baljaj and Brahimaj, who were retried for crimes committed against Serb, Roma and Albanian civilians loyal to the Republic of Serbia in a KLA camp in Jablanica in 1998.
Media have been speculating for days about it being likely that Haradinaj will be released, with Pristina preparing to greet him and expecting him to replace Hasim Taci as prime minister and to become lead negotiator in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
Vekaric told Belgrade-based broadcaster B92 that such things had already happened in the previous phase of the trial (when Haradinaj was acquitted of all accusations) and that someone from The Hague tribunal should explain it away.
"Just imagine they let Vojislav Seselj (leader of the Serbian Radical Party, in ICTY detention for 10 years by now) be involved in politics before a verdict has been reached against him," the Serbian deputy prosecutor for war crimes said.
He said that Tahir Zemaj, who had given "a big testimony" against Haradinaj, had been killed in "the most brutal way possible," adding that 18 other people had met the same fortune.
"When you kill 19 people who have a direct or indirect knowledge of someone's crimes, you really do not have a case in the legal terms," said Vekaric.
He said that the Serbian war crimes prosecution linked Haradinaj to a total of 78 war crime events in three cases, including murders of 70 people in Kosovo-Metohija, All the evidence was available to the ICTY prosecution.
On Thursday, the ICTY will reach a new first-instance verdict against Haradinaj, Baljaj and Brahimaj, who were retried for crimes committed against Serb, Roma and Albanian civilians loyal to the Republic of Serbia in a KLA camp in Jablanica in 1998.
Media have been speculating for days about it being likely that Haradinaj will be released, with Pristina preparing to greet him and expecting him to replace Hasim Taci as prime minister and to become lead negotiator in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
