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Cheering crowds set off fireworks in Pristina yesterday after a former Prime Minister of Kosovo was acquitted of the ethnic cleansing and torture of Serbs in a trial plagued by accusations that witnesses were intimidated.
Ramush Haradinaj, 39, a former nightclub bouncer turned guerrilla leader in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), will return to a hero's welcome and a leading political role in the new country, which declared independence from Serbia in February.
The acquittal of the most senior ethnic Albanian to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on charges of crimes against humanity provoked condemnation from Belgrade. It also looks set to exacerbate tensions between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.
Mr Haradinaj, who was briefly Prime Minister in 2004-05, maintained his innocence throughout his trial. Despite the prosecution, some UN officials in Kosovo continued to view him as a strong political leader capable of bringing reconciliation with ethnic Serbs.
In a statement issued in Pristina after the verdict, Mr Haradinaj said that he would dedicate the rest of his life to creating a free and fair society for people of all ethnic backgrounds in Kosovo. “This is a verdict that strengthens Kosovo. We endured a difficult liberation struggle that cost many lives,” he added.
“Today we are a free and sovereign nation. We can now build a dynamic and united society that is based on the rule of law and respect for the fundamental rights of all citizens.”
The judges in The Hague also acquitted another senior KLA figure but sentenced Mr Haradinaj's uncle, Lahi Brahimaj, to six years for the cruel treatment and torture of two unnamed witnesses who were regularly beaten at a KLA-run prison camp.
The trial of Mr Haradinaj, on charges that he led attacks on Serbs and Roma during ethnic fighting in 1998, caused a deep rift in the UN. It was alleged that he had taken part enthusiastically in a joint criminal enterprise with his co-accused of ethnic cleansing during the conflict of 1998-99, including the murder of 30 civilians whose bodies were retrieved from a lake.
The West was divided on Mr Haradinaj and his activities. Carla del Ponte, the war crimes prosecutor who stepped down this year, said she wanted to prove that he had blood on his hands. But Soren Jessen-Petersen, a former UN administrator of Kosovo, praised his “dynamic leadership, strong commitment and vision”.
Mr Haradinaj was allowed to return to Pristina and to continue limited political activity after stepping down as Prime Minister and voluntarily submitting to his indictment in 2005 - concessions not granted to any other prominent suspect at The Hague.
Ms del Ponte claimed that the perception in Kosovo of UN support for the former leader had “a chilling effect on witnesses and deters potential witnesses from speaking to investigators”. Several refused to testify, even under threat of prosecution.
There was outrage in Belgrade at the verdict. Vojislav Kostunica, the Serbian Prime Minister, said: “Today's dark decision by The Hague tribunal shows that the purpose of that court is not justice."
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The former Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has wrote in the book «La caccia. Io e i criminali di guerra» about organ smuggling operations, committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, against Serbs and other non-Albanians.
Who will respond to KLAsâ war crimes? Does EU officials interested in such investigations?
Mikhail, Moscow, Russia
If there is to be peace in the Balkans, there must be a process of reconciliation. War criminals on all sides should be punished.
The problem is that this is not happening.
The latest example is the acquittal of the former Kosovo PM, even though there was enough credible evidence against him.
SAVO HELETA
Author of "Not My Turn to Die:
Memoirs of a Broken Childhood in Bosnia"
http://savoheleta.livejournal.com
Savo Heleta, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
@Gazmend Ceno, Albert:
Please, just read what ex-prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal, Carla Del Ponte said about his case. She said that, even thou they had about 100 witnesses to his criminal acts many were too scared to testify and are probably going to go to jail for up to 10 years for it. Those who weren't, were assassinated(9 of them, search it or read the NY Times article). The fact that his brothers were killed in the war makes no difference. The decision to let him go back to Kosovo during the trial was a mistake by the judges. Anyone supportive of this ruling is basically supportive of war criminals.
Milos, Belgrade,
Albert, when do you see the same justice apply to Britain and America?
Vera, Canterbury,
You call this justice?
And somebody call onto international law.
Where is international law when kosovo announce independence?
Marko, Nis, Serbia
This shows that the era when Serbian hegemonic nationalists could imprison or execute whoever they pleased using ridiculous allegations is over.
Serbs have been the 'victims' of other peoples' atrocities for centuries. The time has come when they need to prove their accusations like everyone else. This time the evidence of their wartime collaborators, various drug traffickers and criminals did not help.
The Serbs must be outraged by the fact that from now on the justice will be applied to their accusations as to everyone else's.
Albert, London, UK
I canât understand why the Serbs can accept even the verdict of justice. The court wasnât held in Prishtina, but in Hague. This people have to learn to respect the international law, like everybody else. The rules of the game are the same for anyone. The world can rewrite the story just to make happy Serbia. The very fact that Mr. Haradinaj was declared innocent is a proof that justice exist. After all, Kosovo is not China today and has no power to intimidate anybody, just the truth in its side.
Gazmend Ceno, New York, USA
i read all this comments from people that maybe are persons who supported crimes in Republik of Kosova during the war.Hague Tribunal,yesterday made very right deccision and all should be very happy for that.For your information Miconi,Ana and Milos,two of his brothers was killed in war,and also he had a lot of trubels from Serbs,so come on people.
He is Kosovars Hero,live hero
We have a bigg party today in Kosova ok?
Bye,bye
meri
meri, prishtina, kosova
"I cannot see Serbias EU path, from all the spitting in my face.."
qryber, Belgrade, Serbia
This is sooo cool, if you kill Serbs, intimidate and kill witnesses and have Americans as your allies, you can get away with anything.
miconi, Belgrade,
This is a discrase, this man is a war criminal, and is set free by the World Court. Anyone from that region could tell you that he is no more innocent then Milosevic or Mladic. "Serbofobia" as the person before me puts it, is a pathetic excuse to punish a criminal of one nationality, and set the other free!
and this is called justice!
Ana, Seattle, Washington
Maybe you should add to the article something that I reckon is important: 10 key witnesses of the prosecution were killed during the trial. He had no defence witnesses because "they weren't needed".
Milos, Belgrade,
I'm getting really angry with these double standards about Serbia and other countries in the Balkans. I'm not saying Serbia was in the right and nothing can ever change what they did in Bosnia and Srebrenica, etc. We must never forget. But it makes me angry how someone can get away with something like this, when there are clearly some "irregularities" in the trial, I mean someone was killed a few weeks before they were due to testify, in an "accident". Serbia has actually done a lot more than many other countries to bring war criminals to justice, and of course they obviously need to do more, but come on! So does everyone else - especially by the looks of this article.
It makes me sick to be honest, this stupid serbophobia is just like what is going on with Muslims and terrorism today - one group being demonised in order to lead us into an ILLEGAL war and carry on justifying it when anyone starts to doubt its credibility. After all because they're "evil" it doesn't matter does it?
rach, reading,
Once again the eternal ostrich buries its head in the sand and ratifies ethnic and religious cleansing.
harding, miami, usa