Kosovo militant commander does not recognize the Special Court in The Hague
The deputy head of the “Commonwealth of Veterans UCK”, a member of the Kosovo Haradinaj clan, Nasim Haradinaj, stated at a meeting of the Special Court for Kosovo that he does not recognize this authority, since its mandate expired in August of this year.
They decided to arrest the former bandit because of the potential threat that he and his accomplices pose to prosecution witnesses.
"I do not recognize this court or its activities. Its five-year term expired in August," Haradinaj said at a preliminary hearing following his arrest in Kosovo last Friday. "We accuse this court of being the fault of our country's politicians, who allowed it to be established because of their own pockets. Even if you fine me €500, you won't be able to change my opinion or that of my people about this court."
Haradinaj's defense lawyer, Dutch lawyer Van Maartens, said the defense had asked the court to immediately drop all charges against him and release him from custody. The defense lawyer pointed out that Haradinaj has not been charged with war crimes, for which this court was established, and therefore it is not competent to prosecute him. To this, the prosecutor's office of the Special Court noted that before charges are filed, there are a number of investigative actions that are taking place now.
“We are now collecting information from numerous witnesses who admitted that they were scared (that the dossier with their names fell into the hands of the militants - ed.), so Haradinaj was arrested. We are confident that this process will be speedy,” said Assistant District Attorney Jack Smith.
Haradinaj's arrest warrant states that he held press conferences on September 7, 16, and 22, at which he provided the media with classified and confidential information and documents related to the work of the Kosovo Specialized Prosecutor, naming prosecution witnesses and providing information on their whereabouts and other personal information. According to the prosecutor, such behavior constitutes a serious threat and is a means of coercing witnesses to dissuade them from testifying or to persuade them to provide false testimony to the prosecutor and the court.
Kosovo 's rebel commander refuses to recognize the Special Court in The Hague