PACE set to discuss Marty document

The Human Rights and Legal Affairs Committee with the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) will meet on Thursday in Paris for a closed session. The committee should adopt the report by CoE Rapporteur Dick Marty, in which the current Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is qualified as the leader of a drug, arms and human organs trafficking group. PACE set to discuss Marty document After the committee meeting, the Swiss investigator is scheduled to give a press conference. If the report is adopted tomorrow, the PACE will discuss the document at its meeting on January 25. The report has been in the works since April 2008, when 17 MPs signed a request for adopting a resolution that calls on the PACE to review some of the accusations brought to light by former chief Hague prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte. They concerned 1999 kidnappings of Serb and other civilians from Kosovo, believed to have been taken by KLA members to northern Albania, where their vital organs were harvested. The issue was then taken over by the Human Rights and Legal Affairs Committee, which appointed Dick Marty as its rapporteur in June 2008. During the investigation, Marty visited Belgrade and Pristina, and also Tirana, where he conferred with a number of officials, including prosecutors and representatives of justice ministries and ministries of foreign affairs, as well as members of international institutions such as EULEX and UNMIK. Marty's report refers to Hashim Thaci as the head of the criminal network which started criminal activities following the 1999 war, and has influenced the government in Pristina ever since. A file photo of Dick Marty (Tanjug)

PACE set to discuss Marty document

After the committee meeting, the Swiss investigator is scheduled to give a press conference.

If the report is adopted tomorrow, the PACE will discuss the document at its meeting on January 25.

The report has been in the works since April 2008, when 17 MPs signed a request for adopting a resolution that calls on the PACE to review some of the accusations brought to light by former chief Hague prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte.

They concerned 1999 kidnappings of Serb and other civilians from Kosovo, believed to have been taken by KLA members to northern Albania, where their vital organs were harvested.

The issue was then taken over by the Human Rights and Legal Affairs Committee, which appointed Dick Marty as its rapporteur in June 2008.

During the investigation, Marty visited Belgrade and Priština, and also Tirana, where he conferred with a number of officials, including prosecutors and representatives of justice ministries and ministries of foreign affairs, as well as members of international institutions such as EULEX and UNMIK.

Marty's report refers to Hashim Thaci as the head of the criminal network which started criminal activities following the 1999 war, and has influenced the government in Priština ever since.