Post by Beach Police on Dec 24, 2007 17:10:41 GMT -5
UN tribunal accuses government minister in Kosovo of witness intimidation
The Associated Press
Monday, December 24, 2007
PRISTINA, Serbia: A government minister in Kosovo said Monday he was being investigated by the U.N.'s Yugoslav tribunal on suspicion of intimidating a witness in the war crimes case against the province's former prime minister.
Culture Minister Astrit Haracija said investigators from the tribunal had questioned him several times. He said they accused him of contacting a protected witness for the prosecution and attempting to dissuade him from testifying against former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.
Haracija, who has not been charged, denied the accusations. He is scheduled to appear next month in front of a panel of judges at the tribunal, located in The Hague, Netherlands, to respond to the accusations.
If he is brought to trial and found guilty, he could be fined up to €100,000 (US$144,000) and sentenced to seven years in prison, Haracija told The Associated Press.
"I don't accept any of this, I've got nothing to do with it," Haracija said.
The U.N. in Kosovo would not comment.
The former prime minister, Haradinaj, was a commander of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998-99 war with Serbian forces.
He is charged with 37 counts of atrocities against Serbs and their suspected supporters in Kosovo in 1998. He has denied the charges and his lawyers say they will not call any defense witnesses. If convicted on any charge, Haradinaj faces a maximum life sentence.
His trial, which began early in the year, has been hampered by witnesses who have been unwilling to testify, citing fear of reprisals or intimidation. Ultimately, most witnesses testified. Two refused and two others testified only after being held in contempt of court, arrested and flown to The Hague.
Haradinaj turned to politics after the war, which ended when NATO carried out air strikes against Serbian forces. He served briefly as prime minister before quitting and turning himself in to the tribunal after he was indicted in 2005.
www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8884630
The Associated Press
Monday, December 24, 2007
PRISTINA, Serbia: A government minister in Kosovo said Monday he was being investigated by the U.N.'s Yugoslav tribunal on suspicion of intimidating a witness in the war crimes case against the province's former prime minister.
Culture Minister Astrit Haracija said investigators from the tribunal had questioned him several times. He said they accused him of contacting a protected witness for the prosecution and attempting to dissuade him from testifying against former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.
Haracija, who has not been charged, denied the accusations. He is scheduled to appear next month in front of a panel of judges at the tribunal, located in The Hague, Netherlands, to respond to the accusations.
If he is brought to trial and found guilty, he could be fined up to €100,000 (US$144,000) and sentenced to seven years in prison, Haracija told The Associated Press.
"I don't accept any of this, I've got nothing to do with it," Haracija said.
The U.N. in Kosovo would not comment.
The former prime minister, Haradinaj, was a commander of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1998-99 war with Serbian forces.
He is charged with 37 counts of atrocities against Serbs and their suspected supporters in Kosovo in 1998. He has denied the charges and his lawyers say they will not call any defense witnesses. If convicted on any charge, Haradinaj faces a maximum life sentence.
His trial, which began early in the year, has been hampered by witnesses who have been unwilling to testify, citing fear of reprisals or intimidation. Ultimately, most witnesses testified. Two refused and two others testified only after being held in contempt of court, arrested and flown to The Hague.
Haradinaj turned to politics after the war, which ended when NATO carried out air strikes against Serbian forces. He served briefly as prime minister before quitting and turning himself in to the tribunal after he was indicted in 2005.
www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8884630