Former Kosovo soldiers on way to The Hague war crimes court, RTS reports

Three small civil planes took off from the military part of Pristina’s airport carrying former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on their way to The Hague to appear before the Specialist Prosecutor's Office for KLA war crimes in 1998-1999, Serbia’s state RTS television reported late on Thursday.

Pristina lawyer Tom Gashi said the two commanders of the operational zones in Lap and Drenica, Rustem Mustafa and Sami Lushtaku would be the first to appear before the prosecutor.

Former KLA chief-of-staff Sulejman Selimi’s hearing was postponed due to his illness, while another former guerrilla commander Remzi Shala fled Kosovo to avoid the hearing in The Hague.

RTS reported that about ten more former KLA members were summoned, and Gashi said he believed the majority was suspected of committing war crimes. Some would be heard as witnesses.

The lawyer added the first indictments could be expected in a few weeks and that those charged might include some of the highest-ranking KLA members.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office is a Kosovo’s court, located in The Hague, hosting four Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutors Office, which may perform their activities either at the Kosovo Relocated Specialist Judicial Institution (KRSJI) or in Kosovo.

The court is set up for the trials of the alleged crimes committed by the KLA members during and in the aftermath of the war in Kosovo.

Its establishment followed a report from 2001 made by Swiss politician Dick Marty in which he said the KLA had committed war crimes.

Teme