Haradinaj trial interrupted pending decision on testimony

The trial against Ramush Haradinaj was interrupted on Tuesday and will not resume until the Trial Chamber of Hague Tribunal decides on a prosecution request.

Izvor: Beta

Tuesday, 23.08.2011.

16:52

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The trial against Ramush Haradinaj was interrupted on Tuesday and will not resume until the Trial Chamber of Hague Tribunal decides on a prosecution request. The prosecution asked that the record from the Fatmir Limaj case dating back to 2005 should be included in the trial, since it contains the testimony of Sefcet Kabashi who refused to respond to prosecution's questions as regards KLA crimes. Haradinaj trial interrupted pending decision on testimony Haradinaj, one of the former leaders of the ethnic Albanian KLA, and co-defendants Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj are undergoing a partial retrial on charges of war crimes committed against Serbs and other non-Albanian population in 1998. The original trial found Haradinaj "not guilty", but the case was sent to retrial because of witness intimidation in the original proceedings. Asked whether he told the truth when he testified in 2005, Kabashi, as the key witness in the trial, reports said that the witness replied that he "cannot recall the exact period but that since he is not in a habit of lying, he believes that he did his best back then, although he cannot clarify the matter properly now". "You want me to say something that makes no sense, or some word that will cost me dearly," said the witness. The prosecutor then requested the Trial Chamber to include the record from the Limaj case in the list of evidence, since Kabashi said on several occasions that he 'accepts' the statement he gave back then. When he appeared in the courtroom on Monday, the witness was visibly upset and answered most question posed by the prosecution by saying "I do not know", "I cannot recall", or, "I am unable to answer". Kabashi is also a former KLA member who was arrested in the Netherlands several days ago and was then extradited to the Hague, which pressed contempt of court charges against him since he refused to testify in the first-instance trial against Haradinaj in 2007.

Haradinaj trial interrupted pending decision on testimony

Haradinaj, one of the former leaders of the ethnic Albanian KLA, and co-defendants Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj are undergoing a partial retrial on charges of war crimes committed against Serbs and other non-Albanian population in 1998.

The original trial found Haradinaj "not guilty", but the case was sent to retrial because of witness intimidation in the original proceedings.

Asked whether he told the truth when he testified in 2005, Kabashi, as the key witness in the trial, reports said that the witness replied that he "cannot recall the exact period but that since he is not in a habit of lying, he believes that he did his best back then, although he cannot clarify the matter properly now".

"You want me to say something that makes no sense, or some word that will cost me dearly," said the witness.

The prosecutor then requested the Trial Chamber to include the record from the Limaj case in the list of evidence, since Kabashi said on several occasions that he 'accepts' the statement he gave back then.

When he appeared in the courtroom on Monday, the witness was visibly upset and answered most question posed by the prosecution by saying "I do not know", "I cannot recall", or, "I am unable to answer".

Kabashi is also a former KLA member who was arrested in the Netherlands several days ago and was then extradited to the Hague, which pressed contempt of court charges against him since he refused to testify in the first-instance trial against Haradinaj in 2007.

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