The accusations brought against Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office are not an indictment against Kosovo’s Liberation Army (KLA) as a whole, says Kosovo’s Rapporteur to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Peter Beyer.
Beyer told DW that it is only certain individual leaders of the KLA at the time that stand accused by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. “The KLA’s merits,” Beyer said, however, “are indisputable.”
The CDU Bundestag member added that the recent development must be seen as a positive sign by the people of Kosovo, as it indicates a functional Constitutional state. He also warned that Kosovo’s parliament must not be tempted to rescind the legal basis for the Specialist Chambers, as this would irreparably undermine the credibility of Kosovo’s ruling elites in the eyes of the EU.
Beyer spoke of reconciliation being a crucial part of dealing with the past that can only function if war crimes are identified, “no matter who committed them,” he said, and are prosecuted and punished fairly.
