Hague Prosecutors File New Kosovo War Crimes Indictments

The chief prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Prosecutor's Office, Jack Smith, notified the president of the Specialist Chambers for the second time about that he intends to initiate proceedings before the Hague-based 'special court', it was announced on Tuesday.

"The President has therefore assigned a Pre-Trial Judge in accordance with the Law and the Rules of Assignment to review the new indictment filed by the Specialist Prosecutor. The content of indictments are confidential, unless and until confirmed by the Pre-Trial Judge," the Kosovo Specialist Chambers said in a press release

The pre-trial judge has six months to confirm, reject or request additional information related to the indictments.

This is the second time that prosecutor Smith requested appointment of the pre-trial judge to review indictments. The first time indictments were filed in February and they are expected to be confirmed by mid-summer.

The indictees have not yet been publicly named.

Over the past year, more than 100 people, mostly former Kosovo Liberation Army members, have been summoned by the Specialist Prosecution for questioning as suspects or witnesses in relation to crimes allegedly committed between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 1999 in Kosovo.

Those questioned included former KLA guerrillas who have become high-profile politicians like Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned as Kosovo's prime minister after being summoned.

The Specialist Chambers will hear cases arising from an EU task force report which said that unnamed Kosovo Liberation Army officials could face indictments for a "campaign of persecution" against Serbs, Roma and Kosovo Albanians.

The alleged crimes include killings, abductions, illegal detentions and sexual...