FIRST INDICTMENTS FILED FOR WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

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C O N T E N T S

SPECIALIZED PROSECUTOR AGAINST SALIH MUSTAFA

SPECIALIZED PROSECUTOR AGAINST HASHIM THAÇI ET AL

SPECIALIZED PROSECUTOR AGAINST PJETËR SHALA

Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLCK) monitors court proceedings before the Kosovo Specialized Chambers. HLCK will publish newsletters and analyses related to the work of the Specialized Chambers in order to inform the public on the progress of cases.

B Y J U N E 2 0 2 1 , F O U R I N D I C T M E N T S H A D B E E N M A D E P U B L I C B Y T H E S P E C I A L I Z E D C H A M B E R S .

Three are indictments related to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and one is related to obstruction of the administration of justice. HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER KOSOVO

S P E C I A L I Z E D P R O S E C U T O R A G A I N S T SALIH MUSTAFA

Specialized Prosecutor against Salih Mustafa is On September 24, 2020, Salih Mustafa was the first indictment made public before the arrested and has been held in custody in The Kosovo Specialized Chambers. The indictment Hague since. On September 28, 2020, Mustafa was confirmed on June 12, 2020, and then made appeared before the Specialized Chambers for public in September of the same year. Mustafa the first time. In his second appearance, he is charged with individual criminal liability pleaded not guilty to all counts of the under the responsibility of the joint criminal indictment. Meanwhile, five (5) conferences enterprise and command responsibility. The have also been held to follow the progress of charges against him include war crimes the matter. The Prosecution proposed 15 under international law: torture, cruel witnesses for the trial, who will support the treatment, arbitrary detention, and unlawful allegations of the indictment. murder, allegedly committed during the The court has upheld the claims of nine people period April 1999 in the village of Zlash/Zlaš who had applied for the victim’s status. in the Municipality of Prishtinë/Priština. On June 9, 2021, the first hearing was held before the trial panel. The next hearing session According to the indictment, Mustafa, known as before the trial panel is expected to be held on Commander “Cali”, was the commanding officer September 15, 2021. of the BIA unit. The unit was part of the Llapi Operational Zone of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). BIA unit had approximately 500-600 soldiers who operated mainly in large urban areas such as Prishtinë/Priština, Obiliq/Obilić, as well as the Gollak/Goljaka region, where village Zllash/Zlaš is located.

COMMAND JOINT CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY ENTERPRISE is an individual criminal responsibility for is a legal doctrine used during trials at war failure to act in preventing or sanctioning crimes tribunals, to allow the prosecution of crimes committed by persons who are in a members of a group for the actions of the position of subordination in relation to the group. This doctrine holds each member accused-commanding officer. accountable for crimes committed by the group within the common plan or purpose.

NEWSLETTER | JULY 2021 PAGE | 01 HUMANITARIAN LAW CENTER KOSOVO

S P E C I A L I Z E D P R O S E C U T O R A G A I N S T HASHIM THAÇI ET AL

Specialized Prosecutor against Hashim Thaçi et In April 2021, applications of nine persons for al is the second indictment made public. victim’s status were approved. They were The indictment against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri accepted as victims participating in the Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi was proceedings and are represented by a lawyer. confirmed on October 26, 2020 and made public on November 5 of the same year. They are charged with individual criminal responsibility under the responsibility of the Joint Criminal Enterprise and command responsibility for war crimes under international law for: unlawful murder, unlawful or arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, cruel treatment, and crimes against humanity under international law for: imprisonment, other HASHIM THAÇI, inhumane acts, unlawful murder, forced KADRI VESELI, disappearance of persons, persecution and torture. REXHEP SELIMI AND The alleged crimes were committed between March 1998 and September 1999, at several JAKUP KRASNIQI locations in Kosovo and Albania, allegedly committed by KLA members against hundreds ARE CHARGED WITH of civilians and non-combatants. In November 2020, the accused were WAR CRIMES AND transferred to the detention unit in The Hague and are still in custody. In the same month of CRIMES AGAINST their transfer, the accused appeared before the HUMANITY Kosovo Specialized Chambers for the first time. Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi pleaded not guilty before the court on all counts of the indictment. This matter is still in the preliminary procedure, and conferences are held occasionally on the progress of the case. To date, in addition to the first appearance of the accused, six (6) conferences have been held on the progress of the case, the last one in May 2021.

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S P E C I A L I Z E D P R O S E C U T O R A G A I N S T PJETËR SHALA

Specialized Prosecutor against Pjetër Shala is the third indictment made public. The indictment was confirmed on June 12, 2020, and made public on April 15, 2021. The crimes for which Pjetër Shala is charged are alleged to have been committed between May 17, 1999 and June 5, 1999, in Kukës, Albania. Shala, as a member of the KLA, is charged with individual criminal liability under the responsibility of the Joint Criminal Enterprise for War Crimes under international law: cruel treatment, arbitrary detention, unlawful murder and torture. He was arrested in Belgium on March 16, 2021, and was transferred to the detention unit in The Hague a month later. In the same month of the transfer, respectively in April, Shala appeared for the first time before the Specialized Chambers, where he pleaded not guilty to all counts of the indictment. The case is still in the preliminary procedure phase, and the accused remains in detention. Although the proceedings in this case have only recently started, to date, in addition to the first appearance, two (2) conferences have been held on the progress of the matter.

HLCK FINDINGS

A considerable number of published documentation has not been translated into Albanian and Serbian, and are only found in English. The lack of translation prevents the accused, and other parties, from having access to a language they understand. There are frequent errors in interpretation in conferences on the progress of cases.

In-person encounters between lawyers and defendants have been restricted due to COVID-19 measures.

The Project “Monitoring the Work and court sessions of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office and Inclusion of Youth in Justice Sector” is funded by German Federal Foreign Office through the German Embassy in Pristina. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo and do not necessarily reflect the views of the German Embassy in Pristina.

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