Zivanovic: It is in Albania’s interest that crimes committed on its territory are not included in convicting judgments in The Hague

Attorney Zoran Zivanovic told Kosovo Online that it is in Albania’s interest that crimes committed on its territory during the 1998–1999 war — which are mentioned in the indictments — not be included in a potential convicting judgment in The Hague against Hashim Thaçi and three other former KLA leaders, because in that case Albania itself would also become implicated in those crimes.

In his view, that interest may be one of the reasons why the Albanian Parliament adopted, ten days ago, a declaration supporting the former KLA leaders currently on trial in The Hague.

“Any normal state that exercises control over its territory does not allow armed groups — whether they call themselves an army or something else — to carry out violence, murders, and other acts on its soil. There is also the ‘Yellow House’ hanging over them, which, although not included in this indictment, could one day be. Dick Marty’s report pointed to very serious involvement of Albania as a state in the crimes committed in the ‘Yellow House,’” Zivanovic states.

Regarding the declaration adopted in Tirana, as well as a similar one passed by the parliament in Pristina, the attorney views them as a classic example of pressure on the court.

“This is a classic example of one political body — or rather two political bodies, the parliaments of Kosovo and Albania — in a way instructing the court on how it should rule. They say it should judge fairly and impartially and issue acquittals. In other words, you are explicitly suggesting what they should do,” he emphasizes.

Nevertheless, he believes that neither parliament — nor Kosovo or Albania as such — has the power to influence the Specialist Court, given that it was established by the European Union.

“I am not convinced that these declarations could in any way alter the course of a trial that has been ongoing for three years, or change the picture presented by the prosecution, which is factually as it is. In examining witnesses, the judges have very clearly pointed to evidence that speaks very, very strongly of the guilt of all four defendants,” Zivanovic assesses.

At the same time, he notes that a British diplomat — who was the first ambassador to Albania after it became a democratic country following the era of Enver Hoxha — testified in the Thaçi case that his primary task had been to prevent any form of unification between Kosovo and Albania, that is, to prevent Kosovo from potentially joining Albania.

“I believe such ambitions exist on both sides, and after all, this declaration in Tirana was practically adopted in coordination with the declaration in the Kosovo parliament, which in a certain way points to such a possible tendency,” Zivanovic says.

He adds that there were differences in how the vote unfolded: in Albania, both the opposition and the ruling majority supported the declaration on the KLA, while in Kosovo, members of the Democratic League of Kosovo left the session and did not vote either for or against, as some of their members had been victims of the crimes described in the indictment.