Serwer: Absurd to sue KLA, not Serbian forces, who killed many civilians

“I had the opportunity to read the scheme of charges against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselin and other KLA leaders indicted by the Specialised Chambers in The Hague. While these were caused by Dick Marty's report, the Specialised Chambers have adopted a broad definition of crimes that are being investigated. I'm not even sure that the edited indictment included charges concerning organ trafficking Marty had claimed. He had stated that they had enough evidence to start trial”, he wrote Serwer, in an analysis published in his blog, peaceça.net.

Serwr writes that “if those crimes in the yellow house in northern Albania are included in this indictment, they include a small portion of all crimes”.

“What the tribunal did is to accuse the KLA leadership of a joint criminal enterprise that has deliberately committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The victims were non-military civilians whose ethnic identity has not been specified, but the data clearly includes Albanians as well as Serbs”, writes American analyst.

Serwer says the “will have many people in Serbia as well as some in Kosovo who will enjoy this act. The crimes, sometimes according to the indictment itself committed as a result of Serb abuses against civilians, were evident at the time of war”.

What the prosecutor wants to show is that their criminality was not spontaneous behavior, but rather an organised effort, led by the KLA's top leadership”.

Many of the details are being edited in the public version of the indictment, but some of the details will apparently be made public until the court is proceeding with witnesses and other evidence. The defence will deny the charges. We will then have an opportunity to judge the very validity of the KLA prosecutor's portrait.

But what has already become clear is the unilateral character of this judicial effort. The blame of people for war crimes and against humanity should be welcomed, but to accuse the KLA and not the Serbian security forces, who killed many civilians rather than the KLA, is truly absurd”, Serwer wrote.

He further writes that <x0thmus had become three Serbian judgments at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in terms of crimes in Kosovo. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic died before judgment was carried out. In two other judgments, six senior officials from Yugoslavia and Serbia were sentenced. They were also accused of a joint criminal enterprise -- one aimed at Kosovo Albanians, who clearly called for changing the ethnic composition of the population”.

“If I have read the mandate of Specialised Chambers correctly, he has jurisdiction over Serbian authors in Kosovo during the period of January 1st 1998 until December 31st 2000; although the Serbian parliament, unlike that of Kosovo, has not adopted a foreign court”.

The prosecutor's claim to be fair would be much stronger if he had even pressed charges against Serb commanders active in Kosovo during that time. There are commanders who were directly responsible for war crimes in Kosovo and the killing of three Albanian-Americans in Serbia shortly after the war, who are still enjoying prominent positions in Serbian politics and security forces”.

The “are Serbs or Albanians, the accused are innocent until the opposite is testified, at least in court. Even those Albanians who opposed the violence at the time were potential victims under this indictment would have to resist Serb abuses. Political influence in both Serbia and Kosovo can be essential. Let's hope it's in favour of understanding and greater mutual reconciliation, although I have my doubts”, says Cererer in his analysis.