DEL PONTE ACCUSES UNMIK OF HINDERING ICTY WORK
IN KOSOVO
BBC Monitoring International Reports - June 29, 2007 Friday
Excerpt from report by Kosovo Albanian newspaper Koha Ditore on 27 June
[Report by Koha Ditore Brussels correspondent Augustin Palokaj: "Del Ponte
Accuses UNMIK"]
Brussels, 26 Jun - The Hague tribunal [International War Crimes Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia - ICTY] Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte stated in Brussels on
Tuesday [26 June] that her statement regarding the Kosova [Kosovo] status
decision was misinterpreted. Namely, the media had cited Del Ponte as having
requested that the Kosova status solution be postponed so that Belgrade's
cooperation with the tribunal would not be hindered. Del Ponte made clarified
this on Tuesday in front of the European Parliament after some deputies said
that her duty was not deal with politics and to make such statements.
"I said I hoped the Security Council decision on Kosova status would not affect
the work of the tribunal and the apprehension of the other indictees," Del Ponte
said.
Replying to the criticism of European Parliament members that she had exceeded
her responsibilities, Del Ponte blamed the media for misinterpreting her
statement, but she admitted that before making her speech at the UN Security
Council she had read that the international community was going to delay the
Kosova status solution.
Del Ponte used a sharp tone to criticize the UNMIK [UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo] administration, which, according to her, has hindered the
work of the ICTY because it is trying to preserve political stability in Kosova.
She mentioned intimidation of witnesses as one of the main problems in the trial
of former Kosova Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.
"Intimidation of witnesses as well as the closeness of the UNMIK leadership to
the Hague tribunal indictees has a very negative impact on the work of the
tribunal and its image in Kosova," the ICTY chief prosecutor said.
Commenting on the ongoing trial of Ramush Haradinaj, Del Ponte said the tribunal
was still facing obstructions in the form of intimidation of witnesses in the
process.
"I have 15 key witnesses who are now refusing to testify because they are afraid
for their own safety and that of their families," Del Ponte told members of the
European Parliament.
She also noted that the major problem continues to be the protection of those
witnesses as this is provided by the Kosova Police Service [ShPK], and some of
its members, according to her, do not have a good opinion of the tribunal and
therefore do not want to protect the witnesses whom they consider traitors.
[Passage omitted on Carla Del Ponte briefing European Parliament members on
ongoing ICTY achievements, activities, plans]
Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 27 Jun
07
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Copyright 2007 BBC Monitoring Service , Source: The Financial Times Limited
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