Kosovo Opposition Vows to Halt War Crimes Court

The opposition parties, who are against the planned new EU-backed special court because they believe KLA fighters were heroic liberators who should not be prosecuted, vowed on Monday to try to block an expected vote in parliament which would enable it to be established.

"We have not yet decided how we will do it exactly, but we can ensure that we will oppose the formation of the special court, and our opposition will not only be verbal, but with actions as well," said Dardan Molliqaj, the organisational secretary of Vetevendosje (Self-Determination Movement), an opposition party in the Kosovo parliament.

"We have discussed protests, actions within and outside parliament. We will coordinate our activities with other opposition parties," added Molliqaj.

The ruling coalition, made up of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), still lack the necessary votes in parliament to vote on the amendments that will pave the way for the creation of the court.

"If we were to measure the personal opinions of members of parliament, not even 40 of them [in the 120-seat assembly] would vote in favour of the establishment of the court," said Molliqaj.

A vote on the special court in the Kosovo parliament has been announced several times, but the sessions were postponed each time, apparently because not enough votes in favour were expected.

The court, which has provoked strong reactions in Kosovo, is expected to try senior members of the KLA for crimes committed during and after the conflict in Kosovo.

A European Union Special Investigative Task Force report said last year that former KLA fighters could face prosecution at the new court for conducting ...