EU Rule-of-Law Mission in Kosovo ‘Failed’, Claims Judge

Malcolm Simmons, a former head judge for the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX told the Kosovo parliamentary commission on legislation on Monday that the mission prioritised putting prominent wartime figures on trial despite having little evidence, and failed to protect witnesses and deliver justice.

"The mission failed," Simmons told MPs via a video conferencing link, saying that he was "ashamed of being part" of EULEX, which was the European bloc's largest civilian mission, deploying judges and police officers to oversee judicial and policing activities in Kosovo.

Simmons first made accusations against EULEX after resigning as a judge in 2017. The EU mission then revealed that Simmons himself was the subject of several investigations into alleged wrongdoing.

He claimed on Monday that the EU mission was more "political" than about the rule of law, and that EULEX would pressure him to appoint judges who were not prone to acquittals because "the success of the mission was measured by the number of punishments".

He cited two major war crimes cases - the Drenica case in which ten former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighters were all found guilty, and the Klecka case, in which former guerrilla turned politician Fatmir Limaj and nine others were acquitted.

According to Simmons, "there was a lot of pressure on the Drenica case to have punishment" in order for EULEX to demonstrate to Serbia that it was sanctioning Kosovo Albanian suspects for war crimes.

But Simmons claimed the Klecka case would be considered a "joke" anywhere else because of the "weak evidence".

He alleged that the reason for these major trials, which cost millions of euros, was to remove from the political scene people who were considered obstacles...