The former President of the Supreme Court, Fejzullah Hasani, does not believe that the amendments made to the Law on the Specialist Chambers will bring any benefit to the former KLA leaders on trial in The Hague. According to him, these actions could cause irritation toward the international factor, while the court’s work will not be affected at all.
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In a statement to Five, Hasani emphasized that his doubts have accompanied him since the days when this legislative act was drafted, as he has never seen it as a tool in the hands of the four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who are currently facing trial proceedings in the Dutch capital.
As he expressed it, from the moment the law was issued, he had reservations that the text could serve the “four” in The Hague, taking into account the fact that Kosovo has no instrument to interfere in the work of these chambers.
Besides the practical lack of use, Hasani warned that the initiative could cause a wave of reactions from international partners and potentially cost Kosovo dearly in the processes in which it is engaged. He added that the amendments are not expected to have any effect on the functioning of the Specialist Chambers, as he sees no way of implementation, especially when the country itself has abandoned the possibility of interfering in the organization of these courts.
The former high judge also recalled the process of establishing the Specialist Chambers, built through the letter of former President Atifete Jahjaga and the constitutional amendments, which, although approved in Kosovo’s institutions, followed a methodology similar to that of The Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Instead of legislative initiatives, Hasani proposes that the energies of the political community be focused on supporting the defense teams of the former KLA leaders, especially in the stages that await in the course of the trials. The law, according to him, will remain without concrete results, except for the possibility that it provokes a reaction from European institutions.
It is recalled that the Assembly of Kosovo last week approved the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers, initiated by the Democratic Party of Kosovo. The text provides, among other things, for narrowing the court’s jurisdiction, reducing the maximum sentence to 15 years of imprisonment, opening the possibility of appeal before the Supreme Court of Kosovo, and serving sentences within the country.
These moves have also prompted criticism from Brussels. The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, on October 12 declared the amendments unacceptable, emphasizing that they clash with Kosovo’s fundamental obligations to the European Union and with international rule-of-law standards.
