Jurist Skënder Musliu, who lives in Belgium, said the people and state of Kosovo must not be held hostage by the four people accused in The Hague. He spoke about debates surrounding the Specialist Chambers and reactions to international calls for its mandate to be implemented.
In an interview with the newspaper “Bota sot,” Musliu criticized the positions of PAN and the KLA War Veterans’ Organization, as well as interference in judicial proceedings. He said attention should be focused on the victims and their families, who continue to seek justice, rather than on efforts to obstruct the court.
Të lidhura
None found
Commenting on a letter from British Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Musliu said that calling for the Specialist Chambers’ mandate to be respected did not constitute interference in Kosovo’s internal affairs.
He described the reactions of PAN and the KLA War Veterans’ Organization to the letter as unjustified, arguing that calls from friendly countries to meet international obligations are not interference. On the contrary, he said, actions intended to prevent the court from doing its job amount to interference in justice.
“PAN and the KLA War Veterans’ Organization used this as a pretext: they reacted against the letter and criticized Kosovo’s friendly countries, which asked the country to respect the Specialist Chambers’ judgment and the commitments made to the international community. This concerns the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office adopted by the Kosovo Assembly, which, they claim, would constitute interference in justice,” Musliu said.
Musliu said there had been continuous interference in the administration of justice since proceedings in The Hague began. He also mentioned three court cases relating to obstruction of justice.
He singled out as the most serious case the Assembly’s adoption of amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers, claiming the aim was to dismantle the court’s functioning.
“The interference did not stop from the beginning of the judicial process, which is why three proceedings for obstruction of the administration of justice were also brought. Most recently, the most blatant interference by Kosovo’s institutions in the work of the Specialist Chambers came when the Assembly adopted amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers; in practice, there was an attempt to dismantle the Specialist Chambers.
“I consider this an unprecedented act, an interference and brutal intrusion into justice by Kosovo’s institutions, which will unfortunately have negative consequences for the integration process,” he said.
The jurist also criticized what he said was a comparison by Kosovo’s institutional leaders between the proceedings in The Hague and the trial of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač. Musliu called the analogy inaccurate, saying the circumstances and roles of those involved were entirely different.
According to him, Gotovina and Markač were military officers who fought on the front lines against Serbian forces to liberate Croatia. Regarding the accused in The Hague, he made serious allegations about their conduct during the war and their actions against political opponents.
“Unfortunately, the heads of institutions are acting as if this were about defending the KLA’s war, and are comparing the proceedings with those of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač. This is a monumental mistake.
“They cannot be placed in the same category as the four in The Hague. Gotovina and Markač were soldiers on the front and fought against Serbia’s military, paramilitary and police machinery to liberate Croatia. Some of those accused in The Hague, meanwhile, never even saw the war; they stayed in hotels in Europe, at the ‘Rogner’ hotel in Tirana and in Enver Hoxha’s villas.
“They did not fight the enemy, but their political opponents, killing LDK activists and the most devoted patriots. They killed FARK officers with military academy training, with the sole aim of coming to power,” Musliu said.
He urged Kosovo’s institutions not to accept the claim that the entire KLA is on trial in The Hague, calling it propaganda by PAN, the KLA War Veterans’ Organization and media outlets he described as mercenary. Musliu said individuals’ criminal responsibility should not be equated with the liberation war or with everyone who contributed to Kosovo’s freedom.
“Kosovo’s institutions must not accept the narrative of Goebbelsian propaganda by PAN, the KLA War Veterans’ Organization and mercenary media that, in my view, are paid with the proceeds of crime: that the KLA is supposedly on trial in The Hague. If that were the case, all veterans and the people of Kosovo as a whole would have to be tried there,” he stressed.
Speaking about criticism of and interference in the Specialist Chambers, Musliu asked what these actions were intended to achieve and what reasons lay behind them.
He set out two scenarios. If the accused are innocent, he said, obstructing the court’s work does not benefit them and could harm the proceedings. In the absence of evidence and arguments proving guilt, he continued, there is no reason to obstruct justice, and the court should be allowed to complete its work independently.
“First, if the accused are innocent, any obstruction of the administration of justice is harmful and counterproductive. No court, except military juntas, can convict defendants without evidence and arguments, especially in this case: this is a Specialist Chambers operating under Kosovo’s justice system, with experienced, credible and impartial prosecutors and judges. For this reason, the court should be left to do its job.
“Second, interference in the administration of justice has continued since the beginning of the judicial process and leads us to understand that the accused must be guilty and are now trying to exonerate them,” Musliu said.
In closing, he put the victims and their families at the center, saying public and institutional debates were leaving them in the shadows. According to Musliu, discussion of the proceedings in The Hague should focus on the victims, who are still waiting for the killings to be uncovered and for justice to be done.
He claimed that Kosovo’s institutions, PAN and the KLA War Veterans’ Organization were acting as if the matter concerned only defending the accused, while forgetting the fallen, military officers and activists who, he said, were killed by Albanian structures during and after the war.
“The greatest injustice in this story is being suffered by those who suffered most. Unfortunately, no one is mentioning the victims and their relatives, who continue to seek justice. The victims should be the focus, not the accused, because Kosovo’s institutions, PAN and the KLA War Veterans’ Organization are acting as if the victims belonged to the enemy, rather than being the fallen and the most devoted military officers who contributed to Kosovo.
“Until these killings are uncovered, this will remain the darkest part of the history of Kosovo’s Liberation War,” he said.
Musliu also named several figures who, according to his allegations, were executed by Albanian criminal structures: Colonel Ahmet Krasniqi, Ilir Konushevci, Commander Drini, Tahir Zemaj, Bardhyl Hallaçi, Ukë Bytyqi, Enver Maloku and Xhemajl Mustafa.
He alleged that structures within the Rogner Headquarters and SHIK were behind the killings, and asked why, in his view, there had been no victims from those structures.
“Everyone knows that the martyrs of the nation, including Colonel A. Krasniqi, I. Konushevci, Commander Drini, T. Zemaj, B. Hallaçi, U. Bytyqi, E. Maloku, XH. Mustafa and many others, were executed by Albanian hands, specifically by the criminal structures of the Rogner Headquarters together with SHIK. Yet not a single person from the Rogner Headquarters and its structures has been killed!?” Musliu concluded.
