Kosovo’s Klecka War Crimes Trial was No Joke

First, let me say that before judge Simmons was elevated to the presidency of the Assembly of Judges, he was also serving in the same capacity as an international criminal judge from the United Kingdom. I sat with him on the trial panel in a murder case in Prizren in 2011, and found his participation to be highly professional.

I never worked with him again on another case, but we were both members of the relatively small cadre of international judges, and I would consider him a friend.

I have no personal knowledge about his allegations against EULEX, and will leave him to his proof. But I do wish to challenge his characterisation of the Klecka case, which was one of the most high-profile cases prosecuted by EULEX. In the YouTube video of his presentation, he makes several sweeping statements which are completely contrary to my experience with the case.

Simmons says that the case never should have gone to trial because the evidence was so weak; that no country in the world would proceed with such a case; that there was little chance of success; and that in the United Kingdom, the case would have been "laughed out of court".

He also says that the case was politically motivated and, despite its weakness, was tried only because a conviction against Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers and commanders would support the EU-mediated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade to normalise relations, a paramount goal of EULEX.

I disagree strongly with this characterisation. In my opinion, the case presented to the trial panel on which I sat was entirely worthy of a full trial, both legally and factually.

The Klecka case began in 2009 when Agim Zogaj, a former guard at the KLA's Klecka prison camp in the late 1990s, went to the police and...