In Serbia, hands are rub on charges against Thaci and Wessel by discrediting Kosovo and the KLA

US lawyer of Croatian descent Luka Misethic says public accusation against Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and former Prime Minister Kadri Veselini, before confirmed by the investigative judge, is a violation of international criminal law and its court rules. Speaking from Chicago exclusively for Klan Macedonia television, the lawyer Misetic who at The Hague tribunal was the defender of Croatian General Ante Gotovina, said publishing the indictment, on the eve of the Kosovo-Serbia summit in Washington, has caused damage not only to Mr. Thaci, but to all the peace process that should be held at the White House. With Mr. Misetic spoke to Sedin Gezairi and initially asked him how he viewed the debates that followed the announcement of the indictment against Master Thaci and Wessel:

Lawyer Misethic: Admittedly, the indictment was not confirmed. So, Mr. Thaci and Mr. Wessel are still not charged because the investigative judge has yet to confirm the indictment. As I recall, in the 25-year work of The Hague Tribunal there has never been that an indictment that has never been confirmed has been made public before it can be verified. And therefore there is also reason: so every suspect has rights, and you cannot discredit him in public because if the charge against him is rejected, before it is confirmed, there is great harm to him. That's one. Second, publishing in this way, somehow affects the investigative judge, because now the whole world is looking at what he's going to do, and even if he rejects the indictment, it's going to be public and there's going to be public debates about it. I think this is a precedent in international criminal law, because, I repeat, I don't remember this happening before: Let's publish the azakza before confirmation! The other issue is that I consider that, under the court's rules, this procedure had to be secret, in confidence, and I appreciate that the prosecutor in this case did not act properly, because he had to seek the permission of the investigative judge if he wanted to publicize that he had filed charges against Mr. Thaci and Mr. Veselin.

You have also argued with diplomat Carl Bildt on this matter, claiming that the resignation should not offer Mr. Thac, but the prosecutor!

Lawyer Misethic: I only spoke in case the investigative judge rejected the indictment. Mr. Bildt said that even in that case, Mr. Thaci should resign because he allegedly cannot act because the prosecutor has filed those charges against him, and stated that even if the investigative judge rejects the indictment, Mr. Thaci should resign. My attitude was: If the azakza is refused, Mr. Thaci should not resign, but that is what Mr. Smith, so the chief prosecutor must resign because he has filed an unconfirmed indictment, has exposed it to public and caused damage not only to Mr. Thaci but to the entire peace process that should be held at the White House. He has done all of this, and in the end the indictment has not been confirmed. So if that happens and that's in question, if that happens, then I appreciate that the chief prosecutor will have no choice but to resign.

Meanwhile, yes to these dilemmas, specialised Chamber media official Majkel Doyle has confirmed that with the publication of the indictment, no procedure envisioned for resolving the case of the indictment has been violated. Any comment on this?

Lawyer Misethic: In short, I can only say I disagree with Mr. Doyle. Thus, according to the Court's rules, not only the indictment but also the information given to the investigative judges must remain secret. Without the judge's approval, they cannot be published. Here it is clear that the information that has been delivered to the judge has been published. Infomations like the accused of killing more than 100 people, of crimes against humanity, of war crimes, and so on. I consider that in such a situation it is clear, according to the Court's standards, that the rules have been violated and that if the prosecutor wanted and appreciated that there was reason to do so, he had to ask the magistrate's permission to publish, not to do so on his own. So I consider here a violation of the Court's rules and how the Court will react to this, and if the Court sees this as I should be expected to see it.

Prior to the publication of the indictment, as you said, a high-level meeting that was already analyzed at the White House, between President Thaci from the Kosovo side and the Serbian side. I think you are part of those who, by commenting on this incident, say this is a political sabotage. What can you say, Mr. Mishitch?

Lawyer Misethic: I don't see any other explanation for what happened here. So, Mr. Thaci on the way to Washington or the White House, learns information that the prosecutor has filed an indictment, not that he has been charged, but that he has filed an indictment, and that's not what happened, as far as I know, in the 25-year job of the International Criminal Court. I don't see any reason why the prosecutor did this actually set a precedent in international criminal law, except that he wanted to prevent the White House meeting. With that now it was opened on charges that it is being involved in the political process, without the court's permission. I don't know what his motives are to intervene in the political process, but I appreciate that a major damage has been caused not only for this new court, but generally for international criminal law, because international criminal law is constantly being accused of being under the influence of politics, while here for the first important procedure by the Special Court for Kosovo, the first action is mixed up in the political process and I consider this to be a bad start for the Court. Why this has been done, I am forever hopeful that we will learn it personally from Mr. Smith.

In the Balkan region, the gap is the lack of rule of law. What is to be the impact of this decision on the political battle of various parties, considering that we have elections almost throughout the region, while the main requirement of America, Brussels, remains the rule of law?

Lawyer Misethic: It's hard for me to comment on politics. I am a lawyer and cannot say that I specialize in political circumstances in the Balkans. I can generally say that, since the prosecutor somehow intervened here in a political process, this is not a good example for others in the world; that the process of justice should be shared by the political process, so I also say this is a bad start for this court and how it will affect the political processes in the Balkans, unfortunately I am not specialised enough to determine.

The Albanian side may hear the assessment that if the judgment of the Masters Thaci and Wessel occurs it will practically imply Kosovo's judgment -- the KLA, respectively -- because both are among the founders of this military formation in the 1990s. As evidence of this, it is said that international justice does not have the same point when it comes to sanctioning the crimes of the Serb side in Kosovo.

Lawyer Misethic: First, this court must judge individuals, and that should be emphasized. However, it is clear that if you judge the president of the state, if you judge the KLA's founders, then this will have some effect, influence, for the KLA image. On the other hand, we know that in Serbia, they have only expected an additional reason to exploit this during political processes to discredit Kosovo and the KLA in international circles. So I wouldn't say that court as a court has that purpose. Assertly, these processes can be exploited for political purposes and should not be exposed because it is clear that Serbia will now exploit this for its propaganda purposes. As for the other side, what you call the lack of the same boxes for the Serb side, unfortunately, the court is set up in the way that it is not real to expect such a thing, although the court has the power to judge even for crimes from the Serbian side, but unfortunately because the court is created by Kosovo's justice system, it is not real to expect this court to extradite and can also judge Serbs. Why? Because Serbia does not recognise Kosovo, does not recognise Kosovo institutions, does not recognise and is not obliged to hand over its citizens to this court, because this is not the international court, it is the court of Kosovo law, so it is unrealistic to expect someone from the Serbian side to be tried for crimes committed by the Serb side, except, eventually, if anyone from the Serb side is on Kosovo territory, arrest and then hand it over to this court.

As Croatian General Ante Gotovina's lawyer, who faced The Hague tribunal, it can be said that you recognise this measuring related to events from our recent past. What epilogue do you expect about Mr. Thaci, Wessel, and others whose names continue to be unknown?

Lawyer Misethic: They certainly face a long and difficult battle if the indictment is confirmed. The key now is to see if the indictment will be confirmed. If confirmed, I can say that we in the case of General Gotovina have been before the court for seven years. These are seven long years of a laboring process of rising and falling, so I expect that something similar will happen to those from the Kosovo side, which will eventually be charged by this court. The most important is preparing for such a trial, the prosecutor is preparing ten years and awaiting a difficult battle of justice within the courtroom. I can't tell you how this is going to end, no one who's serious can predict how it's going to end in a court procedure, because you don't know how the situation will develop. It takes better preparation, all evidence should be presented, and then eventually any positive results can be expected.

Are we likely to see you as Mr Thaci and Wessel's defense attorney, have they contacted you or...?

Lawyer Misethic: I'm not engaged in any procedures. As a lawyer, if someone calls me to any court procedure, anywhere, in America or anywhere, I would naturally think, but for now there is no commitment./Jesairil