1) Russia Blasts Haradinaj Acquittal, Says It Demonstrates ICTY's Bias 2) Serbia Will Not Quietly Pass Over Haradinaj Acquittal: Prime Minister
1) http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080407/103904444.html Russian Information Agency Novosti April 7, 2008 Russia slams acquittal of Kosovo war crime rebel as biased MOSCOW - Russia's Foreign Ministry denounced a ruling by a court at The Hague last week which saw a former prime minister in Pristina acquitted for crimes committed in Kosovo in 1998-1999. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY) found Ramush Haradinaj, 39, a former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerilla leader, accused of organizing the rape, murder and intimidation of thousands of Serbs and Roma 'not guilty' on April 3. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement on Monday that the verdict "questions the impartibility and objectiveness of the International Criminal Tribunal" and accused the court of "double standards" in their treatment of conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Although the trial judges said that Haradinaj had killed and tortured, they said there was insufficient evidence to indict him. The trial has been surrounded by controversy with allegations of witness intimidation. The prosecution's main witness was shot during the investigation and another person, due to give testimony, died in a car accident just before the trial started. According to claims made in a book "The Hunt: Me and War Criminals" written by Carla Del Ponte, the ex-chief war crimes prosecutor, claims that Haradinaj was involved in the sale of organs, taken from prisoners executed in Kosovo. She alleges that there was sufficient evidence for prosecution of Kosovo Albanians involved in war crimes, but it "was nipped in the bud" focusing on "the crimes committed by Serbia." The claims have caused a storm in Serbia and among the international community. The president of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Serbs in Kosovo, Simo Spasic, said he wanted to sue Carla del Ponte for "concealing the crimes." Meanwhile, Nebojsa Covic, who used to head the Coordinating Center for Kosovo, was cited by the b92.net portal as saying: "Serbia never got any response to this evidence, and it is therefore good that Del Ponte wrote it in her book, as it is never too late to shed light on crimes." The former Kosovar leader surrendered to the criminal tribunal voluntarily in March 2005. He was indicted on 37 charges and released three months later. He continued his political activities and vehemently denied all charges against him. ------------------------------------------------------ 2) http://www.srbija.sr.gov.yu/vesti/vest.php?id=44881 Serbian Government April 7, 2008 Serbia will not silently pass over Haradinaj acquittal Belgrade – Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated yesterday that Serbia will not silently pass over the Hague Tribunal’s decision to declare war criminal Ramush Haradinaj innocent, even if the EU remains silent regarding the decision. In a written statement, Kostunica stressed that it can be assumed that the EU thinks that its proper response should be to remain silent on the Haradinaj acquittal and that it would be best if it acted as if nothing had happened. The Hague Tribunal has erased the difference between war criminals and innocent people and thus justified the horrible crimes committed by Ramush Haradinaj, emphasised the Prime Minister and reiterated that Serbia will not accept the justification of Haradinaj’s crimes against innocent Serbs, nor will it let the matter end like any other topic in media which lasted for a few days and was forgotten. Since, for the EU, the Hague Tribunal is the lighthouse of European values, we now must determine with the EU whether the institution that issued the certificate of innocence to a war criminal deserves to be called a court at all, noted Kostunica. He added that it must be determined whether even after this decision the Hague Tribunal will remain the supreme parameter for determining European standards in the EU integration process. Serbia has the full right to persist in this matter and demand that it should be determined whether the Hague Tribunal can be called a legitimate court because that is Serbia’s obligation to all the innocent victims who have been humiliated when Ramush Haradinaj was declared innocent, stressed Kostunica. Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
