The Ministry of Justice of Kosovo has allocated €1.5 million for payments to lawyers defending the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members who are charged with war crimes and being held in custody by The Hague.
A list of payments published by local media shows that €464,600 were already paid, and €1.1 million are planned to be paid later to the lawyer of the seven former KLA leaders facing charges.
The largest amount goes to Hysni Gucati’s lawyer (€315,150), the smallest to Kadri Veseli’s (€31,000).
Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, Jakup Krasniqi and Salih Mustafa are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Kosovo was with Serbia in 1998-1999.
Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj face charges of revealing without authorization information protected under the law of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a Kosovo court staffed with internationals and located in The Hague.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office were established in August 2015, by the Kosovo Parliament to investigate crimes allegedly committed during and just after the war 1998- 2000.
Only KLA members, Albanians of Kosovo, have been charged so far by the KSC-SPO for crimes committed during the war.
