Wednesday, December 24th 2025
After interviewing the persons suspected of committing the criminal offense of war crimes, the Office of the Special Prosecutor based in The Hague, if it confirms the suspicions as well-founded, then it can file charges against the suspects, says Ismet Salihu, professor of International Criminal Law, in an interview for Radio Free Europe.
According to him, based on the work flow of the Specialized Chambers, known as The Special Court for war crimes in Kosovo, especially in the last two months, the trial procedure of suspected persons will begin soon. He expresses the opinion that there will be no political interference with this court and that no one innocent will be punished by this court.
Radio Free Europe: Professor Salihu, the Office of the Specialized Prosecutor based in The Hague, has invited more than 40 people to interview them, either as witnesses or suspects for alleged war crimes in Kosovo, from January 1998 to December 2000. What are the procedures after the interview?
While the witnesses are invited according to the standards, according to the rules which are defined and built in the criminal codes of the states separately, such as the Criminal Procedure Code of Kosovo. Here, with one exception, because a number of witnesses will have the status of a protected witness that they say is anonymous and he will testify, but his voice, his face will not be identified because of the risk that he may be exposed to by suspects or other persons. pre-penal, preliminary and the procedure can last depending on the situation, depending on the specific case it can last a week, two weeks, one or two months – there is no set deadline. Whereas, when charges are filed, then the deadlines are set by law.
Radio Free Europe: When do you think we can expect the first indictments from the Special Prosecutor and then the first trials from the Specialized Chambers?
Ismet Salihu: According to the current course of work of the Special Court and especially the last situation, these last two months, I am convinced that the trial procedure of suspected persons will soon begin, for because the Special Court has been working in this direction for almost ten years, I think in investigations. You know that now it is only the third chief prosecutor who has taken this function and according to some of my latest knowledge, the Special Court, in addition to this chief general prosecutor, the chief prosecutor, there are a significant number of prosecutors who have led the investigations and a significant number of all these prosecutors are precisely American citizens.
Radio Free Europe: What are the differences in the judicial procedures that the Specialized Chamber applies, if Is there a comparison with the Hague Tribunal?
Ismet Salihu: Mainly the procedure is the same. The legal basis, the legislation of this court and the judges and prosecutors themselves are so well built that they are guaranteed adequate autonomy, that there will be no episodic political interference, etc., that no one innocent will be punished in this court, according to all these parameters and standards that are built into the legislation and the composition of the judging panel and prosecutors. Someone may be released in the absence of facts, evidence, but according to my conviction, no one will be convicted innocent.
Otherwise, the procedure is the same, with a substantial exception compared to the procedure and jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal, which, as you know, has stopped working after 20 years of work. This difference consists in what is expressly foreseen, in the Law on the jurisdiction of this court, it is expressly stated there in the relevant provisions that in cases where a person has been prosecuted, a trial has been conducted and the trial has been completed, either by the local national court of Kosovo, or by the international court, such as the Hague Tribunal, that the procedure for that case has been completed, this court (Special) no longer has jurisdiction to judge that case. So, the principle “Non bis in idem” will be respected here, or you will not be tried and punished for the same offense a second time.
Radio Free Europe: Can the persons against whom the indictment is filed be protected in freedom?
Ismet Salihu: The work of this court will be conducted according to the Law on the establishment of this court, which regulates several main issues of the procedure. However, this court will also work according to the laws that were in force at the time the criminal offense was committed. In other words, this court will conduct the procedure also according to the Code of Criminal Procedure of Kosovo, according to the Criminal Code of Kosovo, according to the previous law of the former Yugoslavia, that is, the Criminal Law of Yugoslavia, the Criminal Law of Kosovo, etc.
So, in terms of the question you asked – whether it can be decided that any of the suspected persons are protected in freedom – it depends on the decision, the conviction, the assessment. of this Hague court, now that I call it the Special Court. I think it can happen, but I don’t believe it will be allowed due to the existence of the risk that it could affect the witnesses or endanger them, because a number of the witnesses who will testify in this court are protected witnesses. But, they can be discovered and put at risk.
Ismet Salihu: Only with one exception can it happen that a person, who has previously been judged and the trial has been completed by the local courts of Kosovo or by the Hague Tribunal. It is possible that a procedure for the same offense may be conducted again, if in the meantime new information has been discovered, which can provide evidence that the particular person is guilty. Secondly, after the procedure against a certain person has been completed, be it an acquittal or a conviction, if in the meantime it has been discovered that that person has also committed another criminal offense, which the court did not know about or could not know had been committed – but which was discovered in the meantime – then, also, the same person can be summoned again, conduct criminal proceedings and be tried.
Radio Free Europe: In this context, how do you see the invitation that was done to the resigned prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj? He received an invitation from the Special Prosecutor’s Office to be interviewed, as a suspect. Haradinaj has already been in two trials at the Hague Tribunal.. Ismet Salihu: We regretfully received the news that Haradinaj has been invited as a suspect to the Special Court. But, in all likelihood, in the meantime, some data or some crimes have been discovered, for which it is claimed that Ramush Haradinaj is guilty. We recall that in the last trial, Ramush Haradinaj was released due to the lack of facts, data and evidence. Otherwise, he is not released as innocent, but due to lack of evidence.
In criminal law, in criminal procedure, it is a principle that for lack of evidence no one can be punished, declared guilty. In fact, in cases where there are doubts whether he is or is not guilty, has or has not committed a criminal offense, it is a principle in criminal justice, not only in us, but also in other countries, as given in international law, but also in national law, that in those cases it should be decided in favor of the accused. So these are the situations and Mr. Haradinaj, in all likelihood, was invited for the alleged crimes that were committed during the war or eventually after the war.
This court has jurisdiction over the period for which it will act, from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2000, which is 18 months during the war and 18 months after the war. We know, unfortunately, that after the war, a number of murders were committed, which is not small. There have been very macabre murders of activists, mainly of the Democratic League of Kosovo. These persons who have been invited (by the Office of the Special Prosecutor) and who are currently at the levels of power, have certain state and political status, who were members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, especially those who had higher levels in the Kosovo Liberation Army, in all likelihood, these persons will be charged by this court, according to the line of command responsibility. The commander answers, be found guilty and punished in three situations.
First, if he ordered a person or group of persons to commit war crimes. The second situation is, in the event that the commander knew that some soldiers or groups of soldiers were preparing to commit war crimes and did not hinder or prevent them. Meanwhile, the third situation is the one that creates the criminal responsibility of the commander or commander, if he did not know that the crime was being prepared and committed, but in the meantime he found out and was notified that it was a crime or crimes, and did not take any measures to punish the perpetrators crime or hand them over to the justice bodies, to answer for the crime, either to military courts (during the war) or after the war, to regular local courts./REL
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