Carla del Ponte

Former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has expressed skepticism that the EU mission in Kosovo is capable of any meaningful and impartial investigation of the Albanian organ trade as she recalled that her war crimes officials were threatened with death by the Albanian mafia in Kosovo when she attempted to investigate the Albanian organ trade in 2004.

“I am afraid that EULEX will not be in a position to lead the investigation because you can imagine the problems with which it will be faced,” del Ponte was quoted as saying to the Serbian weekly NIN.

Del Ponte recalled that in 2004 officials from her war crimes court were threatened with death by the Kosovo Albanians when they attempted to investigate the Albanian organ trade.

“They were prevented,” del Ponte said and declined to say that the organ trade allegations are baseless.

A report by the Council of Europe authored by Dick Marty says that the leading Kosovo Albanian separatist, Hashim Thaci, is the mastermind not just of the organ extraction from Serbs but also for other crimes like heroin sales, female slavery and weapons.

Officials in Albania where organ extraction took place as well as the violent separatist Albanian officials in Kosovo have called the facts in the Council of Europe report as baseless.

Speaking to Vienna based daily Die Presse, Thaci said that facts in Marty’s report “are all fabrications”.

“He also attacks the U.S. and the countries of the EU and the UN for their role in the post-war period. This is a political report which is not based on facts,” Thaci is quoted as saying.

“I would recommend Marty to find a good team of lawyers. Under no circumstances will Marty escape justice,” Thaci threatened.

Speaking to the media yesterday, Marty says that he does not fear for his life but recalled the case against the Kosovo Albanian Haradinaj when a prosecution witnesses testified in the investigative proceedings but was murdered shortly thereafter.

Marty said that the witnesses he interviewed trusted neither national nor international governmental institutions.

“People are unlikely to disclose any information if they fear such an outcome and if nobody can guarantee their safety,” Marty said.

“A great number of Serbs were killed, but also Albanians who were viewed as collaborationists, and the crimes were not committed only in Kosovo, but in Albania as well,” Marty said.

“The international community and the Western governments prefer stability, and fear that an investigation against ranking officials could destabilize the region of Kosovo,” Marty said.

Washington has already dismissed all the facts about extraction of organs out of Serbs saying that such event will not change their relationship with Thaci because the relationship is based on “mutual interest”.

“EULEX has already announced that they will work on the issue and cooperate with competent authorities in order to carry out a comprehensive investigation, and I think it is quite clear that Kosovo’s government and people will assist in the process,” said the US Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Pristina Michael Murphy.

Murphy said the the US and Thaci “share the same goal – a Kosovo that represents a modern, democratic, and multiethnic society and is part of the European family of nations.”

Hundreds of thousands of Serbs have already been ethnically cleansed by the Kosovo Albanian authorities and the remainder live in ghettos where they are routinely attacked.

December 22, 2010
SERBIANNA

• A Permanent Economic Emergency