Retired American diplomat William Walker spoke about September 16, the day the verdict is expected in the Hague trial of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Walker said he is anxiously awaiting the decision, which comes after an exceptionally lengthy trial.
“I am waiting with great anxiety, after a very, very long process. I cannot imagine how Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi must be feeling after so much time in detention. I simply cannot understand this process. It has gone on for so long,” stated Walker.
According to the former head of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission, the Hague prosecution built its case on what he considers flawed premises by portraying the KLA as a highly organized conventional army.
Walker said the KLA was instead a much more decentralized organization made up of different regional commanders.
“I think the prosecution has based its case on some false premises, portraying the KLA as some kind of standard army, with a chain of command that reached all the way to these three men. I know that the KLA was very different from that. It was a regional organization, with different regional commanders. I am waiting to see what happens tomorrow; perhaps it would be better to call me tomorrow after the verdict,” he said.
Walker argued that the court has operated on a fundamental misunderstanding of what the KLA actually was and said that, in his view, justice cannot emerge from a process in which the defendants have already spent six years in detention.
“Whatever the verdict may be, I think the entire process of investigating and trying these three people for alleged war crimes is a farce. I think the court has operated on a complete misunderstanding of what the KLA was. Justice cannot come from this process because the lives of these defendants have already been destroyed by six years of detention,” Walker said.
The former U.S. diplomat also emphasized that he has always believed in the principle of presumption of innocence until a court reaches a final verdict.
“I have always believed that justice is based on the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty, and that you should not be in prison until the verdict has been determined. I am simply shocked by the injustice of this entire system,” he added.
Walker said he has no idea what the final verdict will be and that even people he has spoken with have had no information about what the Hague court might ultimately decide.
Regardless of whether the defendants are found guilty or acquitted, Walker said he believes the process itself should be criticized. He expressed hope that the people of Kosovo will recognize what he described as the fundamentally political nature of the proceedings.
“But regardless of whether it is a conviction or an acquittal, I think the process itself should be condemned. I hope the people of Kosovo understand that this was essentially a political process, more than a search for justice and truth,” Walker said.
He added that he feels sympathy not only for the defendants but also for Kosovo, which he described as a young country seeking to demonstrate to the world that it is a democratic nation after decades of turmoil and war.
“I feel sorry not only for the defendants, but also for Kosovo, such a young country trying to show the world what kind of democratic nation it is, after so many decades and years of turmoil and war. The people of Kosovo have shown the world what Kosovars can do when they are given the opportunity, when they are given independence. To me, Kosovo is a miracle,” Walker said.
He argued that the Hague proceedings have damaged Kosovo’s image and reiterated his view that the trial was not genuinely a search for justice.
“This trial has damaged that image. Whatever the result, I hope the people of Kosovo understand that this was not really a search for justice. It was a search to make a political statement by the EU and the international community, that there are some equivalences to what happened. It is shocking to me that this process has taken place,” Walker concluded.
