This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/24/kosovo-president-hashim-thaci-indicted-on-war-crimes-charges

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi indicted on war crimes charges Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi indicted on war crimes charges
(about 2 hours later)
Court examining crimes during 1998-99 war also charges nine other former separatist fightersCourt examining crimes during 1998-99 war also charges nine other former separatist fighters
Kosovo’s president Hashim Thaçi has been indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes, by a prosecutor investigating crimes committed during Kosovo‘s 1998-99 independence war with Serbia. A prosecutor investigating crimes committed during Kosovo‘s 1998-99 independence war with Serbia has indicted Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaçi, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The charges were made public as Thaçi was en route to Washington DC ahead of a White House meeting with Serbia’s president set for Saturday and brokered by Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s Balkan peace envoy. Trump hoped to broker a deal between the two countries, which have not normalised relations since Kosovo broke away from Serbia following a Nato bombing campaign, and declared independence. The indictment was announced as Thaçi was on his way to Washington for a White House meeting with Serbia’s president organised by Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s controversial ambassador to Germany who was also appointed as the administration’s Balkan peace envoy.
In a statement, the prosecutor’s office at the Hague-based court said charges had been filed in April against Thaçi and nine other former commanders in the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought a guerrilla campaign against Serb forces before the Nato intervention. The court was set up to investigate allegations of crimes committed by the Kosovo Albanian side during the war. The meeting had been scheduled for Saturday, but Grenell announced on Twitter on Wednesday evening that Thaçi had cancelled his visit following the announcement. “I respect his decision not to attend the discussions until the legal issues of those allegations are settled,” Grenell wrote. Kosovo’s new prime minister, Avdullah Hoti, will take Thaçi’s place at the White House meeting.
The group are charged “with a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture”. It said the group were “criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders”, and noted that the victims included Serbs, Kosovo Albanians and other ethnicities and included political opponents. Hoti’s predecessor, Albin Kurti, accused Grenell of helping to bring down his government because it had resisted a US-backed deal with Serbia.
The statement makes it clear that the indictment had not yet been proven, and also notes that the pre-trial judge had not yet made a ruling on confirming the charges. However, the prosecutor said it was taking the unusual step of making the charges public before this point “because of repeated efforts by Hashim Thaçi and Kadri Veseli to obstruct and undermine the work of [the court]”. Trump is hoping to gain a diplomatic victory by brokering a deal between the two countries, which have not normalised relations since Kosovo broke away from Serbia following a Nato bombing campaign in 1999. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which is not recognised by Serbia. Nor is Kosovo a member of the UN or other major international bodies.
It accused the pair of carrying out a “secret campaign” to overturn the law setting up the court in an attempt to obstruct its work and evade trial. “By taking these actions, Mr Thaçi and Mr Veseli have put their personal interests ahead of the victims of their crimes, the rule of law, and all people of Kosovo,” said the statement. The surprise announcement on Wednesday by the prosecutor’s office at the Kosovo specialist chambers in the Hague appeared designed to scupper chances for a White House deal that could make Thaçi politically untouchable.
Thaçi has not yet commented on the charges, and a spokesman confirmed that the Kosovo president was en route to Washington at the time they were made public. He is due to meet Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić at the White House, on talks aimed at making a breakthrough in the long-running dispute between the two countries. The prosecutor’s statement said Thaçi and nine other former commanders in the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought a guerrilla campaign against Serb forces before the Nato intervention, had been indicted in April.
The indictment is for a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance, persecution and torture. It says the group is criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders, and notes that the victims were Serbs, Kosovo Albanians and other ethnicities, and included political opponents.
Wednesday’s statement makes it clear that the pre-trial judge had not yet confirmed the charges, but the prosecutor’s office said it was taking the unusual step of making the charges public before that point because of Thaçi’s repeated efforts to “obstruct and undermine” the court’s work.
“I assume the prosecutor got permission from the court to do this,” said Clint Williamson, a former US special envoy on war crimes who led the investigation into Kosovo war crimes that formed the basis for the charges. “My sense is that this was probably driven by the summit meeting which was about to occur. They are not going to say that publicly, but I can’t imagine that didn’t factor into it.”
“When I released the preliminary investigative findings back in 2014, I cited concerns about witness intimidation and other efforts to obstruct the investigation, and there is every indication that this has continued,” he said. “The release of the public announcement of the indictment seems to reflect the ongoing concerns about that.”
The Kosovo specialist chambers were established in 2015 through an amendment to the Kosovo constitution and the passing of a special law to establish its jurisdiction. It came after the EU special investigation that Williamson led found “compelling” evidence of systemic war crimes carried out by the KLA leadership.
Thaçi did not immediately comment on the indictment, but a spokesman confirmed that he had been on his way to Washington at the time it was made public. In an interview with the Guardian in 2018, Thaçi said: “We believe the special court was unnecessary and unfair, but because of our relationship with the EU and the US we decided to support it.”
The prosecutor’s statement accuses Thaçi and Kadri Veseli, the former speaker of Kosovo’s parliament, of carrying out a secret campaign to overturn the law setting up the court in an attempt to obstruct its work and evade trial. “By taking these actions, Mr Thaçi and Mr Veseli have put their personal interests ahead of the victims of their crimes, the rule of law, and all people of Kosovo,” it said.
There has been uneasiness in the international community at the length of time the specialist chambers has taken to produce indictments, and concern that Thaçi could be more amenable to signing a deal with Serbia brokered by Trump in order to lessen the chance of being summoned by the court.
“I think Thaçi is hoping he can deliver something to the administration so they will give him some kind of pass on the prosecution,” a former US diplomat who was based in the region said before the news that the talks had been cancelled. “But I just don’t know how that would work.”
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, wrote a formal letter to Thaçi in March supporting the work of the Kosovo court and telling him not to try to obstruct its work.
“The abolishment or undermining the work, structure or locations of Kosovo specialist chambers and specialist prosecutor’s office in any way would seriously infringe Kosovo’s credibility in the world,” Pompeo said, according to a leaked copy of the letter. “Any such claim would leave a permanent spot on Kosovo, its commitment to the rule of law would be under question, justice for victims would be denied and Kosovo’s future would be blurred.”
The former diplomat said that even if the Trump administration were to give Thaçi license to ignore the indictment, that stance would be likely to be reversed if Joe Biden were to win the US presidential election in November. When Biden was vice-president he wrote a letter to Thaçi telling him the US required him to cooperate with the Kosovo chambers.
Both Grenell and the EU had been pushing talks between Thaçi and the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, but they are now likely to be stalled indefinitely.