Mark Ellis: Drawn Special Files, Open Fear and Attack on Trial

This is pure intimidation and assault on trial on the process, on fair trial. If you are in an environment where groups or individuals offer information on the names and addresses of witnesses, then the whole process, basically, collapses. Cannot work”, Ellis tells Free Europe Radio.

According to him, the prosecution is responsible for strongly maintaining the protection of witness identity.

This should stop. On the contrary, the entire judicial process” is at risk, he says.

The specialised prosecutor at The Hague ? A Kosovo institution formed at the insistence of the international community investigates the alleged crimes of members of the Kosovo Liberation Army committed against ethnic minorities and political rivals. These alleged crimes are mentioned in a 2011 Council of Europe report, author of which is Swiss senator Dick Marty. Witness protection is just one of the reasons why the Prosecution headquarters is in The Hague, not Kosovo.

anonymous delivery of documents in Pristina

The Kosovo Liberation Army Veterans' Association, three times in recent weeks, has announced that an anonymous person has handed over to it <x0 thousand files containing witness names and addresses”.

These documents, according to her, are from The Hague.

After each surrender, the Society's leaders have held a press conference, where journalists are allowed to obtain those documents.

After each conference, documents have been confiscated by investigators at The Hague.

Their contents are unknown and have not yet been confirmed if they are authentic. So far, no witness name has been made public.

On Tuesday, The Hague's Specialised Prosecutor's Office has said that some activities in which the Organisation of the Kosovo Liberation Army veterans is involved “are meant to undermine justice management properly“.

This office has also said that “is committed to investigating and prosecuting, vigorously, individuals committing such crimes, including publishing the identity of individuals who might be called before the court or any information that could lead to their identification“.

The prosecution's credibility is at risk of failing to react

Ellis says the credibility of the Specialised Prosecutor will be jeopardised if it does not react immediately and does not take strong measures against those involved in the alleged flow of sensitive documentation.

“In my opinion, this is such a serious violation of the court procedure that everyone, including the Prosecutor, should be extremely concerned and do everything possible, not only not to repeat this, but also to make it clear that they will react against anyone who releases such information in public”, Ellis says.

Information Protection Problem

Ellis also stresses that the very fact that the documents are published shows that “has an ongoing problem, in protecting information” and that it “should be resolved through internal investigation”.

When subjects or individuals violate rules and principles, the answer should be urgent, powerful, and I believe there must be consequences, including criminal indictment against any subject or individual, which offers or allows witness information to be made public”, says Ellis.

Witness Co-operation With Court Challenge

According to him, witness co-operation with the tribunal can now be an absolute challenge, “which has been the goal of those subjects that have provided information to the public”.

He adds that the responsibility also lies with the international community, which “should be sound on this issue because of the importance of witness protection in any judicial process”.

On 18 September, embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States in Pristina have praised the Special Prosecutor of the Republic of Kosovo for “respecting the authority of the Specialised Prosecutorship in The Hague to investigate possible illegal intelligence of classified documents and information”.

The Special Court, or, as it is officially called, Specialised Chambers and Specialised Prosecutorship in The Hague, was formed in 2015 with constitutional changes in the Kosovo Assembly. It is financed by the European Union.

The first charges were submitted in February of this year.

The Specialised Prosecutor's Office has announced in late June that, in April, it has filed a war crimes indictment and crimes against humanity against Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, the president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Kadri Veselin, and some others whose names have not been made public.

In July, Thaci, for four consecutive days, has been questioned by prosecutors at The Hague.

The judge of the preliminary procedure has the maximum six months to confirm or reject the charges.

So far, it has not been reported that any of the charges have been confirmed.

The contents of the US prosecutor's charges, Jack Smith, are classified until the judge confirms them.

In Kosovo, many have rejected the formation of the Special Court, as it deals only with claims by Dick Marty's report, which does not mention Serbian crimes in Kosovo.

KLA veterans have protested several times, and in 2017, there has been a failed attempt at the Kosovo Assembly to abolish the court. The international community has reacted sharply to this effort.