The head of the Kosovo Liberation Army Veterans’ Organization, Hysni Gucati and his deputy Nasim Haradinaj, will appear before The Hague- based Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) today (Friday).
KSC set the further appearance or the status conference before the pre-trial judge for Gucati and Haradinaj at 15:00.
Gucati, alongside his deputy Nasim Haradinaj, stands accused of revealing without authorization, information protected under the law of the KSC, including the identifying details of certain (potential) witnesses, on the occasion of three press conferences between 7 and 25 September 2020.
During this period, their office anonymously received investigation files leaked from the Specialist Prosecutors Office (SPO).
The SPO charges Gucati with six counts: obstructing official persons in performing official duties by serious threat; obstructing official persons in performing official duties by participating in the common action of a group; intimidation during criminal proceedings; retaliation; violating the secrecy of proceeding through unauthorized revelation of secret information disclosed in official proceedings, and violating the secrecy of proceedings through unauthorized revelation of the identities and personal data of protected witnesses.
Gucati was arrested on the same day with Haradinaj, on September 25 and were transferred to The Hague.
At his initial appearance as an accused on December 18, Gucati pleaded not guilty to all counts, while Haradinaj did not enter a plea.
The Hague- based tribunal was established following a 2011 Council of Europe report in which Swiss Senator Dick Marty addresses the alleged crimes of “members of the Kosovo Liberation Army against ethnic minorities and political rivals” from January 1998 until in December 2000.
The formation of this court required constitutional changes, which were approved by the MPs of the Assembly of Kosovo in August 2015.
