NAAC welcomes The Hague acquittal of Ramush Haradinaj

WASHIGNTON, April 7 – The National Albanian American Council on Monday welcomed the acquittal of Ramush Haradinaj, former Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) Commander and former Prime Minister of Kosova by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Haradinaj’s acquittal followed the previous acquittal of Fatmir Limaj, former KLA commander and presently Minister of Energy of Kosova, which advocates say defines KLA members as freedom fighters and patriots of the newly established Kosova.
The ICTY, established by Resolution 827 of the UN Security Council, has jurisdiction over individuals responsible for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991, and is the first international body for the prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held in the aftermath of World War II.
While all KLA members who have been indicted by the ICTY have reported for trial, the two men most responsible for the atrocities, Serbian General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karagjic, remain at large. Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor, ICTY, has continuously spoken out against Serbia’s lack of commitment to capture those indicted and to send them to The Hague for trial.
NAAC urges the ICTY to remain firm in insisting that Serbia arrest those indicted by the ICTY as a requirement before EU membership discussion can begin. In order for the region to move forward, those who were responsible for the worst atrocities in Europe since WWII must be brought to justice, said NAAC officials. (Tirana Times Staff)