Judges at the Hague tribunal announced this week that the trial of Kosovo’s former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj will begin on March 5, 2007.
He will stand trial together with his two co-accused, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj.
The three are accused of attacking and persecuting Serb civilians in Kosovo, and “the forcible, violent suppression of any real or perceived form of collaboration with the Serbs by Albanian or Roma civilians” between March 1 and September 30, 1998.
During that period, Haradinaj was one of the most senior Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, leaders in Kosovo. He had overall command of the KLA forces in one of the KLA operational zones bordering Albania and Montenegro, called Dukagjin.
Balaj was a member of the KLA and acted as the commander of the special unit known as the Black Eagles. According to the indictment, he was subordinate to Haradinaj, reported directly to him, and worked closely with him.
Brahimaj, a close relative of Haradinaj, was a member of the KLA and acted as the deputy commander of the Dukagjin Operative Staff. The prosecution claims he too was subordinate to Haradinaj, reported directly to him, and worked closely with him.
All crimes alleged in the indictment occurred between March 1and September 30, 1998 in Kosovo and were directed against the Serb civilian population and those members of the Albanian and Roma civilian population in Decani, Pec, Djakovica, Istok, and Kline municipalities, perceived to be collaborators or not supporting the KLA.
According to the indictment, between the second half of May and August 1998, at least 16 civilians were detained, beaten and tortured at a make-shift detention centre at the KLA headquarters in Jablanica. One of the detainees is known to have died while the others are still missing. The detention centre was allegedly run by Brahimaj.
The indictment also states that during the end of August and the beginning of September 1998, Serb forces retook temporarily the area surrounding Glodjan, and a Serbian forensic crime scene team conducted an investigation in that area. They identified at least 39 bodies and partial remains.
Several of these remains have been identified as those of Serb, Roma and Albanian civilians who disappeared between April and early September 1998 in the Dukagjin area.
All three accused are charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war, including forcible transfer of civilians, murders and rape.
The indictment against Haradinaj alleges that "as a commander... he established a system whereby individuals were targeted for abduction, mistreatment and murder, and whereby a systematic attack on vulnerable sections of the civilian
population was carried out".
It further states that "he personally participated in the abduction of persons who were later found murdered", and on at least one occasion gave his tacit
approval as a commander for detained persons to be executed.
Haradinaj was indicted in 2005, and soon after that he voluntarily gave himself up to the tribunal and resigned from his post as a prime minister.
A few months later, he was granted provisional release so that he could return
to Kosovo, where he is today pending the start of his trial.
In June 2006, the trial chamber allowed Haradinaj to continue in his capacity as president of his political party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK.
Merdijana Sadovic is IWPR’s Hague programme manager.
He will stand trial together with his two co-accused, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj.
The three are accused of attacking and persecuting Serb civilians in Kosovo, and “the forcible, violent suppression of any real or perceived form of collaboration with the Serbs by Albanian or Roma civilians” between March 1 and September 30, 1998.
During that period, Haradinaj was one of the most senior Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, leaders in Kosovo. He had overall command of the KLA forces in one of the KLA operational zones bordering Albania and Montenegro, called Dukagjin.
Balaj was a member of the KLA and acted as the commander of the special unit known as the Black Eagles. According to the indictment, he was subordinate to Haradinaj, reported directly to him, and worked closely with him.
Brahimaj, a close relative of Haradinaj, was a member of the KLA and acted as the deputy commander of the Dukagjin Operative Staff. The prosecution claims he too was subordinate to Haradinaj, reported directly to him, and worked closely with him.
All crimes alleged in the indictment occurred between March 1and September 30, 1998 in Kosovo and were directed against the Serb civilian population and those members of the Albanian and Roma civilian population in Decani, Pec, Djakovica, Istok, and Kline municipalities, perceived to be collaborators or not supporting the KLA.
According to the indictment, between the second half of May and August 1998, at least 16 civilians were detained, beaten and tortured at a make-shift detention centre at the KLA headquarters in Jablanica. One of the detainees is known to have died while the others are still missing. The detention centre was allegedly run by Brahimaj.
The indictment also states that during the end of August and the beginning of September 1998, Serb forces retook temporarily the area surrounding Glodjan, and a Serbian forensic crime scene team conducted an investigation in that area. They identified at least 39 bodies and partial remains.
Several of these remains have been identified as those of Serb, Roma and Albanian civilians who disappeared between April and early September 1998 in the Dukagjin area.
All three accused are charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war, including forcible transfer of civilians, murders and rape.
The indictment against Haradinaj alleges that "as a commander... he established a system whereby individuals were targeted for abduction, mistreatment and murder, and whereby a systematic attack on vulnerable sections of the civilian
population was carried out".
It further states that "he personally participated in the abduction of persons who were later found murdered", and on at least one occasion gave his tacit
approval as a commander for detained persons to be executed.
Haradinaj was indicted in 2005, and soon after that he voluntarily gave himself up to the tribunal and resigned from his post as a prime minister.
A few months later, he was granted provisional release so that he could return
to Kosovo, where he is today pending the start of his trial.
In June 2006, the trial chamber allowed Haradinaj to continue in his capacity as president of his political party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK.
Merdijana Sadovic is IWPR’s Hague programme manager.
