Kosovo’s Haradinaj: I have never threatened witnesses

He recalled that Serge Brammertz, the then Tribunal's chief prosecutor, said in Belgrade in 2011 that “no witness from the charge sheet against Haradinaj or those in the witness protection programme was killed."

"I have never done that (threatening the witnesses) nor anyone else to my knowledge. There was one witness against me who died in a car accident with a drunk Serb in Montenegro. However, only after his death it became known that his name was on the list of witnesses against me,” Haradinaj told the newspaper as carried by the Beta news agency.

He added that the judges at his second trial confirmed that he had ordered the witnesses should not be threatened.

“Anyone who should testify against me could do that."

Haradinaj resigned as prime minister on July 19, after he had been summoned by The Hague as a suspect in war crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

He was one of the commanders of that guerilla force fighting against Belgrade police and army in the 1998-1999 war in the then Serbia’s province.

Speaking to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Haradinaj said there were cases of people who “tried to enter the witness protection programme to get a better life in other countries."

"They offered to cooperate with the prosecutors only if they would enter the witness protection programme with a new identity. They even lied before the court, but the experienced judges noticed that. It often happened in the past,” Haradinaj said.

Asked about his latest hearing in The Hague on July 24, when his lawyer advised him not to speak, he said the questions were about the formation of the KLA and his role in that and that he hadn’t faced any specific charges.

"The hearing lasted an hour," he said, adding he did not know anything about an indictment and that information about the creation of the KLA and his role had been already documented in the last two procedures that lasted eight years and after which he had been exonerated.

Haradinaj said it was “a great surprise” for him when summoned again regarding the KLA crimes, adding his opposition to border changes between Kosovo and Serbia could be a factor behind it.

“It’s not a secret that I oppose the border changes in our region, which are supported by a part of the international community. I think that it is hazardous. That’s why I say the taxes (100 percent import duties Pristina introduced on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and has been refusing to lift or suspend them despite pressure from abroad) will remain until Belgrade recognises Kosovo’s independence,” Haradinaj said.

Answering the question whether he agrees with an opinion that the Special Court for Kosovo is used to discipline Pristina’s politicians, Haradinaj said that “there are many theories and speculations what was behind the decision to call me (as a suspect) to The Hague.”

He added he was aware of the consequences of the decision to implement taxes and that he was always honest with “our allies in the US and Europe, telling them that border changes and territory swap would imperil the stability in Kosovo and the region.”