Limaj, Musliu and Bala
By Michael Farquhar in The Hague (TU No 394, 18-Feb-05)
Limaj, Musliu and Bala
By Michael Farquhar in The Hague (TU No 394, 18-Feb-05)
Kosovar deputy Krasniqi, an unwilling witness appearing under a subpoena, had earlier alleged that witnesses in the case against Fatmir Limaj, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala had been “processed” by Serbian intelligence services before being “given” to The Hague’s prosecutors.
The three defendants are accused of operating a prison camp in the village of Lapusnik in 1998 where Serbs and suspected Albanian collaborators were kept in brutal conditions, severely beaten and in many cases murdered.
This week Michael Topolski, who represents Musliu, pressed Krasniqi for more information on his claims.
Krasniqi insisted these claims were based on solid facts, but then launched into an attack that rested at least partly on the assertion that the trial had misrepresented the KLA's struggle for liberation, and other apparently unconnected arguments.
The court then went into private session to allow Topolski to develop the question of whether individual witnesses in the trial might have been influenced by Serb intelligence agents.
But whatever arguments Krasniqi gave in private session did not appear to convince the court. Alex Whiting for the prosecution later said he had spoken with Topolski during a break in proceedings and they had agreed it should be put on public record that “the witness offered no facts” to support his claim.
Presiding Judge Kevin Parker agreed with Whiting that transcripts of the private portion of the session should be made public.
The episode later earned the witness an admonition from Judge Parker, which suggested his arguments were linked to the fact that much important evidence in the case has been provided by anonymous witnesses.
“Could I ask you to take with you one thought,” Judge Parker said as Krasniqi’s testimony came to a close.
“In this case, any witness who has … or who will give evidence under a pseudonym does so by order of this chamber. In no case is that order given because of the consideration which you identified in your evidence,” he said, a reference to Krasniqi’s claims of Serb intelligence involvement.
Transcripts of the private portion of the session are expected to become available to the public within the next fortnight.
Early in his testimony, Krasniqi had defended the KLA’s policy of killing Albanian “collaborators”.
Michael Farquhar is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
