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Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj in court. Photos: EPA-EFE/PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/POOL.
The leader of the KLA War Veterans’ Association, Hysni Gucati, and his deputy Nasim Haradinaj insisted on Monday that they are innocent of obstruction of justice and witness intimidation, and denounced the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which was set up to prosecute crimes committed during the Kosovo war.
“As a proud citizen of the Republic of Kosovo, I declare today that I am being subjected to a [trial] process by a biased and selective prosecution,” Haradinaj told the court in The Hague.
“We haven’t committed any sin… It is my legitimate right to protect the values of my people and the Republic of Kosovo. I am obliged to protect the rights and freedoms of my people for a better life like every nation on our continent,” Gucati said.
Gucati and Haradinaj were arrested in September after they received allegedly leaked case file documents from the Kosovo Specialist Chambers which contained confidential information about protected witnesses in the Hague-based court’s cases against KLA ex-guerrillas, and urged media to publish extracts from them.
The indictment alleges that between September 7 and 25, 2020, “on the occasion of three press conferences and other broadcasted events, as well as through… social media statements, Mr. Gucati and Mr. Haradinaj revealed, without authorisation” lawfully protected information.
It also claims that they identified “details of certain (potential) witnesses”.
The Specialist Chambers were set up to try former KLA guerrillas for crimes allegedly committed during and just after the Kosovo war from 1998 to 2000. They are part of Kosovo’s judicial system but located in the Netherlands and staffed by internationals.
The so-called ‘special court’, widely resented by Kosovo Albanians who see it as an insult to the KLA’s war for liberation from Serbian rule, was set up under pressure from Kosovo’s Western allies.
Those awaiting trial for wartime crimes include Kosovo’s recently-resigned President Hashim Thaci and former Democratic Party of Kosovo leader Kadri Veseli alongside two other guerrillas turned politicians, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi. They have all pleaded not guilty.
The trial of former KLA commander Salih Mustafa is already underway. Mustafa is charged with the arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder of civilian prisoners. He has pleaded not guilty.
