Former KLA leaders Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselji, Redžep Seljimi and Jakup Krasnići are before the Specialized Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague this Wednesday, September 16 first instance sentenced to a total of 81 years in prison: Tači and Krasnići to 25 years each, and Veselja and Seljima to 18 and 13 years respectively.
The verdict against the KLA leaders is based on the testimony of 373 witnesses and 5.467 exhibits. It was established that between April 1998 and June 20, 1999 Thaci, Veselja, Seljima and Krasnić "significantly contributed" to the persecution of those who were considered opponents of the KLA, writes DW. Among them were Kosovo Albanians, those who allegedly had connections with the authorities of the FRY, i.e. Serbia, as well as members of the Roma and Serbian nationalities.
Lawyer Aleksandar Olenik, who also deals with war crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, gave DW a positive assessment of the verdict in The Hague.
"Everyone knows that war crimes were committed in the territory that was under the control of the KLA in the 1990s in Kosovo. Now we have verdicts and individualization of guilt."
In the summary of the verdict, it was stated that members of the KLA "physically abused the prisoners" in many prison facilities.
"One prisoner who was imprisoned in Lapusnik said that another prisoner, while he was being beaten, begged the KLA members to give him a bullet and stop torturing him," said Smith.
Lawyer Olenik points out that respect for victims in the proceedings of that court is "advancement in international criminal law".
"In the previous ad hoc tribunals, the victims were only witnesses, only a method for proving guilt. In this court, they have their own representative, they have the right to compensation," says Olenik.
Olenik explains the fact that KLA leaders were not convicted of crimes against humanity by "the number of victims who were heard and who were mentioned in the indictment and in the summary of the verdict."
"The court processed less than 400 (testimonies) of the victims. 96 people were killed. I think that, when we look at the numbers, it is difficult to conclude that we can talk about crimes against humanity in that sample," says Olenik.
New trials?
Olenik also explains that according to the law by which the SVK was established, only the founders of the KLA are answerable before that court, and that the Kosovo judiciary also prosecutes other members of that army who are believed to have committed crimes.
"The summary of the verdict lists the names of those who are not in the indictment, and who were found to have committed criminal acts. Now it is up to the other part of the Kosovo judiciary to process, based on this verdict, first those for whom the evidence was presented in this procedure, and then all the others. The period after the end of the armed conflict should also be covered there, i.e. after June 20, 1999."
Strengthening of conflict potential
Referring to the protests in Kosovo after the verdict, Staša Zajović from the Women in Black organization says that neither the "Serbian regime nor the Kosovo authorities" are using the verdicts for war crimes "to question their own responsibility and role in the war, but to strengthen the potential for conflict."
"When I say that they use similar matrices, I cannot equate the scale of the crimes committed by both sides. It cannot be forgotten that the Serbian regime is responsible for the greatest number of atrocities in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, especially in Kosovo," said Zajović.
Speaking about the tensions in Kosovo, she says that "it is important that there are international forces monitoring the situation."
"It is clear that there are no conditions for renewed armed conflict, but there is a danger that the war will continue by other means."
Positive consequences of the verdict - in 10, 15 years
Answering the question of how the verdict will affect the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, Olenik reminds that the verdicts of international courts previously had little influence on it: "I hope it will be better now. It depends on the political elites in both countries."
Olenik points out that Kosovo society "has been pushed to the right in the last four years".
"I'm not optimistic that the verdict will have a positive effect in the near future, but I think that, as time goes by, in ten, fifteen years, what was determined by these verdicts will be looked at more realistically and without prejudice," concludes Aleksandar Olenik for DW.
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