Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who is visiting the United States, has discussed the recent Kosovo Specialist Chambers judgment with U.S. Congressman Mike Lawler, arguing that the first-instance verdict contains factual inaccuracies, historical misunderstandings and legal errors that should be corrected on appeal.
During the meeting, Kurti also discussed Kosovo-U.S. relations, investment opportunities and the situation of Albanians in Serbia’s Preševo Valley. Kosovo Assembly member Shaip Kamberi also attended the meeting.
Kurti has repeatedly criticized the September 16 judgment against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, arguing that parts of the ruling should be overturned through the appeals process.
According to Kurti, allegations concerning the trafficking of human organs, which were raised in the 2011 report by Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty, were not included in the indictment brought by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.
“The judgment ignored the offensive and incredible allegations of organ trafficking in the Dick Marty report, which were so incredible that they were not even charged by the Prosecution,” Kurti said, according to his statement.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers’ operative indictment did not include organ-trafficking charges. The four former KLA leaders were charged with six counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes.
Kurti also pointed to the court’s findings concerning crimes against humanity, saying the Trial Panel rejected the prosecution’s allegation that the accused were responsible for a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.
The Specialist Chambers confirmed that all four defendants were acquitted of crimes against humanity because the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that such a widespread or systematic attack had taken place. The four were nevertheless found criminally responsible for several war crimes, including illegal or arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder.
The Trial Panel sentenced Thaçi and Krasniqi to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years. The judgment is a first-instance decision and remains subject to appeal.
Kurti said the remaining findings of the judgment were based on what he described as factual inaccuracies, historical misunderstandings and legal errors, and expressed the expectation that they would be fully corrected during the appeals process.
The meeting with Lawler comes as Kosovo’s government discusses its response to the first-instance judgment and the support it can provide to the defence teams during the appeal proceedings.
