The Special Court of Kosovo yesterday sentenced two ex-combatants to four and a half years in prison, finding them guilty of witness intimidation in the first ruling issued during Kosovo’s war of independence against Serbia in the 1990s.
“The verdict describes these actions for what they really are: criminal, not patriotic,” said Charles Smith, chief justice in The Hague, as he read out the verdict to former fighters Hosni Gokati and Naseem Haradinaia.
This is respectively the leader of a group of old fighters of the Albanian separatist militia, the Kosovo Liberation Army and his assistant. They were accused of belonging to a group that tried to obstruct the work of the judiciary.
They were sentenced for disclosing confidential information issued by the court, allowing the identification of witnesses, during three press conferences from 7 to 25 September 2020.
The prosecutor said that the defendants defame people who cooperate with the court, and call them “spies” and “dealers who betrayed” their citizens. Several former combatants of the Kosovo Liberation Army are involved in the investigation of war crimes committed during the conflict (1998-1999).
The conflict has resulted in the deaths of 13,000 people, in which the separatist militias in the province of Kosovo in southern Serbia clashed with Serbian forces.
Many KLA veterans vehemently oppose the work of the court, defending the legitimacy of the “war of liberation” against Serbian forces.
