Moscow slams Hague Tribunal decision to acquit Haradinaj
Russia's Foreign Ministry slamed on Monday a ruling by the war crimes tribunal in the The Hague which acquitted former Kosovo Liberation Army leader and Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj of war crimes.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Monday, April 07, 2008
"The verdict questions the impartibility and objectiveness of the International Criminal Tribunal", the ministry said and and accused the court of "double standards" in their treatment of conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
Nine key witnesses against Haradinaj were killed in a widespread action of witness intimidation organized by Haradinaj's men, which resulted in his acquittal due to "lack of evidence".
Former ICTY prosecutor Carla Del Ponte revealed this month in her new book "The Hunt: Me and War Criminals" that the KLA was also involved in the sale of human organs, taken from Serb civilians executed in Kosovo.
She alleges that there was sufficient evidence for prosecution of Kosovo Albanians involved in war crimes, but it "was nipped in the bud" focusing on "the crimes committed by Serbia."
The claims have caused a storm in Serbia and among the international community. The president of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Serbs in Kosovo, Simo Spasic, said he wanted to sue Del Ponte for "concealing the crimes."
