Alija: After Thaci’s trial, the gradual closure of the Court in The Hague will follow

The Kosovo Specialized Chambers based in The Hague will likely begin a process of closure after the completion of the main judicial proceedings against former KLA leaders, lawyer Amer Alija told Kosovo Online.

According to him, the work of the Specialized Chambers to date shows that the mandate of this court is strictly limited to the allegations contained in the 2011 Council of Europe report, namely the report by Dick Marty, which concerns crimes committed by certain members of the KLA.

“If we look at the Law on the Specialized Chambers, it is clear that the jurisdiction of this court and the Prosecutor’s Office is limited to crimes committed in the period from 1998 to 2000, and committed by nationals of the Republic of Kosovo or the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. If we also take into account who over the years has been called to give statements as a witness or a suspect before these institutions, it can be concluded that the court deals exclusively with the allegations from the Dick Marty report and the Council of Europe resolution, which relate only to the actions of certain individuals from the KLA,” Alija said.

He emphasized that, although the court was established more than ten years ago, no member of Serbian military or police structures has so far been summoned in the capacity of a suspect.

“Therefore, it can be concluded that indictments will not be brought against Serbian leaders accused of having committed crimes during the war in Kosovo,” our interlocutor noted.

He assessed that, after the conclusion of the ongoing proceedings, primarily the one against Hashim Thaci and the other defendants, the Specialized Chambers will have fulfilled their primary purpose.

“I think that this court will slowly begin to close after the major case against Hashim Thaci and others. Over these years, we have seen that around 15 people have been indicted in three proceedings dealing with war crimes and another three for obstruction of justice in cases related to proceedings,” Alija said.