Russia mixes a little: Pressured by Special Court to Condemn KLA Leaders

He has voiced confidence that the Special Court “will not repeat The Hague Tribunal's mistake and that those responsible will receive the sentence they deserve”, thus alluding to the release of Ramush Haradinaj and Fatmir Limaj.

Those statements, Russian Nebezia, have made during the UN KS hearing on Monday, October 23rd, as it is discussed about the situation in Kosovo.

“in this context, it is also clear that Pristina has declared continuity between the current “police and the current Kosovo Liberation Army, a terrorist organisation, whose leaders, including Hashim Thaci, are currently being tried as accused of serious war crimes near Specialised Chambers in The Hague. We believe that the Chambers will not repeat the mistakes of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and that all those responsible will receive the punishment they deserve. In this context, Pristina's refusal to pay compensation to the victims of crimes committed by KLA fighters, contrary to decisions made at The Hague, speaks for itself”, Vassibly Nebenzia has declared.

Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi were arrested in November 2020, following an indictment filed by the Special Court, while the trial against them was launched in April of this year.

Russia's Foreign Ministry had at the time welcomed the arrests of KLA leaders.

The fact that the Kosovo Specialised Prosecutor's Chamber has intensified investigations into Kosovo Liberation Army crimes (UÇK) with charges against the former leaders of this disgusting entity have come to our attention. The accused include President Hashim Thaci and former Parliament Speaker Kadri Wessel. It is very important to bring to court those guilty of serious crimes identified in due time by the rapporteur PACE, Dick Marty, to hold them accountable to the law. In that sense, there should not be immune people”, the Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.