Three embassies against the KLA values bill, what does the draft contain?

The United States' ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Costet, has said the KLA's Charter for protection of values, which is expected to be torn away by the Kosovo Assembly at Friday's session, risks undermining freedom of expression.

In addition, the law would pave the way for legislation that would penalise other forms of freedom of expression, setting a dangerous precedent. Penalising criticism against any group or individual is a dangerous step, even if it is not for that purpose, towards authoritarianism. There are countries that, for example, penalise criticism against a incumbent president or other political leaders, expressions that are part of the daily record alive in Kosovo, in the United States of America and in other democracies”, Costnet has said through a statement.

He stressed that the United States of America is not “against KLA”, and instead, they realize that today “Kosovo would not be an independent state without KLA efforts and other resistance organisations”.

However, according to him, this bill would be impossible to implement, as it would be a unnecessary burden on the law enforcement and justice system”.

The proposed “Law could also undermine efforts to ensure justice. The Witnesses, regardless of their background, would ask whether they could be punished for testifying to the alleged crimes of individuals associated with the KLA, even if those individuals were accused of acting alone, not on behalf of the group”, has declared Konett.

Moreover, according to Ambassador Consettet, Kosovo already has anti-slander and insults laws. These existing laws, according to him, should be applied if people make false, verifiable statements against KLA veterans.

Rather, the proposed new law would impose an unnecessary burden on the law enforcement and justice system. It would be impossible to apply. It would offer easy opportunity for rivals to press charges on each other, expecting that the investigation and prosecution would immediately follow. This would pave the way for future political manipulation”, it has been pointing to Costnet.

On August 6th, Germany's ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, also echoed a post of the American Embassy issued at the end of July, in which the project was criticised in question.

I share my American colleague's assessment. Rarely in a democratic society is a good idea to try to narrow down discussions by limiting them through criminal law”, the German ambassador has written on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Switzerland is also concerned that the proposed Law to protect the KLA's war values could harm freedom of expression.

The proposed law could cause intimidation among some Kosovo citizens and hinder other processes aimed at dealing with the past, the Swiss Embassy's response in Kosovo said.

MPs from the Kosovo Assembly on Friday will review the Bill for Protection of the Values of the Kosovo Liberation Army War (UÇK). The Kosovo government, on 14 July, has supported this bill, proceeding at the Kosovo Assembly's Headship.

The bill proposed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo envisions determining the institutional and civic obligation to protect the KLA's war values. The value of the war, according to this bill, is the armed struggle of the people of Kosovo, led by the KLA, the KLA itself as armed military formation, the veteran of KLA, flag, soldier's oath, coating, General Staff, Political Directorate, operating areas headquarters, archives, and the memorial complex “

The bill envisions respect for the values of war, institutional protection, the War Museum, the Day of the Memorial of the war for liberation, punishment provisions, and underground acts. If the current KLA war values protection bill is adopted in the Kosovo Assembly, the law will have budgetary implications of 2m and 250 thousand euros, without even counting on investments.

By law, “Every public and citizen official of the Republic of Kosovo is forced to respect and defend the values of the war defined with this law at any time and any circumstances within and outside the country”. Also, “with the case of stopping and arresting the KLA veteran, according to international arrest warrants issued by Serbia, with political motives, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo takes the necessary actions to protect veteran”.

The violation of the provisions of this law is sanctioned under legislation in effect.