War crimes retrial of Kosovo's former leader opens

War crimes retrial of Kosovo's former leader opens

2011-08-19 03:23:52 GMT+7 (ICT)

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- Former Kosovan Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is being retried at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague on counts of war crimes during the Kosovo War in 1999, officials said on Thursday.

In 2007, Haradinaj was trialed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for the charges of persecutions, cruel treatment, murder, torture and rape during the Kosovo War in 1999 when he was commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the Dukagjin operational zone, located to the west of Pristina, Kosovo's capital.

However, Haradinaj was acquitted of all charges in April 2008 and the Chamber Trial ordered his release.

Haradinaj was trialed along with two fellow members of the KLA with whom he allegedly perpetrated a joint criminal enterprise to consolidate the KLA control over the Dukagjin Operational Zone by the unlawful removal and mistreatment of Serb and Kosovan civilians.

Subordinate to Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj was also released in 2008 after being found not guilty on all counts of the indictment. Meanwhile, Lahi Brahimaj, also subordinate and close worker of Haradinaj, was found guilty of cruel treatment and torture and sentenced to six years imprisonment.

However, after the Prosecution filed a notice of appeal, the Chamber considered the case and ordered a retrial for the three accused which commenced on Thursday with the prosecutor's opening statements.

The retrial was ordered in July 2010 after the Appeals Chamber concluded that the Trial Chamber had "seriously erred in failing to appreciate the gravity of the threat that witness intimidation posed to the trial's integrity."

According to the ICTY document on the case, the error undermined the fairness of the proceedings and resulted in a miscarriage of justice. All three accused are to be re-tried on six counts of the original indictment relating to the torture and murder of prisoners in the KLA-run camp in Jablanica.

Thousands of people were killed during the Kosovo War.

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