THE HAGUE: Ex-Kosovo president Hashim Thaci is to appear Monday before a war crimes court in The Hague to face charges stemming from the 1990s conflict between Kosovo and Serbia.
Thaci, 52, resigned as president Thursday and flew to the Netherlands where he was placed in the detention center of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), a Kosovo court located in The Hague.
Judges, specialist prosecutor and staff are drawn from the international community.
Thaci and three other defendants have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, illegal detention, enforced disappearances and persecution, committed between March 1998 and September 1999, the court said Friday in a statement.
Thaci has pledged to cooperate with the tribunal, which has scheduled his first hearing for 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) Monday.
He was political chief of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought Serb forces for the independence of the southern province in a conflict that claimed more than 13,000 lives.
He claims the international system of justice is “rewriting history” and said Thursday he was stepping down as president to “protect the integrity” of the office.
“I believe in truth, reconciliation and the future of our country and society,” he added.
The bitter conflict killed ethnic Albanian Kosovars for the most part, and only ended when a NATO air campaign forced Serb forces to withdraw from what was then one of the country’s provinces.
Top Serbian military and police officials were later convicted of war crimes in other international courts.
But rebel leaders of the KLA — many of whom have gone on to dominate politics in Kosovo — have also been accused of revenge attacks on Serbs, Roma and ethnic Albanian rivals during and after the war.
On Monday, a judge will first ensure “that the rights of the accused, including the right to legal representation, are respected, and that the accused understands the charges,” the court statement said.
The KSC is a temporary court tasked with trying suspects linked to crimes allegedly committed by the KLA.
Before serving as president, Thaci was also prime minister of Kosovo, but he had pledged to step down and face charges if they were confirmed in a formal indictment.
His three co-defendants are former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi, Thaci’s closest political ally Kadri Veseli, and key KLA figure Rexhep Selimi.
In June, KSC prosecutors accused Thaci and others of being “criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders” in addition to other crimes.
Thaci has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence in a war that most Kosovars consider a just liberation struggle against Serbian oppression.
Ex-Kosovo president Thaci set for first war crimes hearing
https://arab.news/gxhhy
Ex-Kosovo president Thaci set for first war crimes hearing
- Thaci was political chief of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought Serb forces for the independence
- Thaci and three other defendants have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between March 1998 and September 1999
Indian state hunts wild elephant after 20 killed in rampage
- Attacks have been taking place in Jharkhand state since early January
- Deaths come amid increasing destruction of elephants’ natural habitat
NEW DELHI: A team of 100 forest and wildlife officers is on the hunt for a wild elephant that has killed at least 20 people in a days-long rampage in eastern India, officials said on Wednesday.
The elephant attacks have been taking place since early January in the Chaibasa and Kolhan forest areas of West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand state, which is also home to the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve.
“Twenty people have lost their lives,” Aditya Narayan, divisional forest officer, Chaibasa, told Arab News. “This is unusual ... we have put the entire area on alert and asked the villagers not to step out unnecessarily. This is an alarming situation.”
Smitha Pankaj, chief forest conservator in the Singhbhum area, said the animal has not been sighted yet but it has been established that it is a bull in musth — a period of heightened testosterone and a known factor in aggressive behavior.
“This attack has happened when the testosterone level of elephants is at its peak. Besides that, people have also been agitating the elephant,” she said.
“I feel that it has crossed the Jharkhand border ... our team consisting of over 100 people is monitoring the situation.”
The rampage took place as human activity leads to the shrinking of the natural habitat of elephants. Settlements are encroaching on areas that once served as seasonal movement routes for elephant herds.
Rishikesh Singhdev, a forest rights activist, also attributed the attacks to deforestation and insufficient efforts to preserve the elephant population.
“In 2005, the government gave land to humans in the forests and, as a result, the human population in the jungle kept on increasing. It is believed that elephants do their movement on the route that their ancestors have walked. Elephants have killed people who fell on this route,” he said.
“Elephant food habitats have disappeared. This is the first elephant reserve forest in India, but no attempt is being made to preserve and secure the elephants.”
