KLA War Veterans' Organisation

Kosovo police used pepper spray against ex-fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA who tried to enter parliament on Monday during a protest to demand that war veterans be included in draft legislation that will guarantee a minimum wage.

Halil Berisha, a journalist from Pristina, told the trial of Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans' Organisation leaders Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Tuesday how he received the allegedly leaked war crimes case files from the defendants.

Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj went on trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Thursday, charged with obstruction of justice and witness intimidation after they received leaked documents from war crimes case files and urged media to publish confidential information from the documents in September 2020.

The appeals chamber at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague ruled on Tuesday that the deputy leader of the KLA War Veterans' Organisation, Nasim Haradinaj, must remain in custody.

The appeals judges said in their decision that they were "satisfied that, at the time of the review decision, grounds for continued detention still exist".

Nasim Haradinaj in court at a previous hearing. Photo: Kosovo Specialist Chambers/Screenshot.

The plea was entered in accordance with court's regulations after Haradinaj did not appear in court.

Haradinaj's lawyer told the court that his client did not want to take part in the hearing "as a protest about the way he has been treated".

"By taking these actions, Thaci and Veseli have put their personal interests ahead of the victims of their crimes, the rule of law, and all people of Kosovo," the prosecution said in a statement.

"I plead not guilty and I am completely not guilty," Hysni Gucati, the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans' Organisation, told the pre-trial judge during his initial appearance at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Friday.

The deputy leader of Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans' Organisation, Nasim Haradinaj, who is accused of obstructing justice and intimidating witnesses, declined to enter a plea at his initial appearance at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague in Friday.

"In regards to my plea, my lawyer will speak on my behalf," Nasim Haradinaj told the pre-trial judge, Nicolas Guillou.

Two more former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters have confirmed that they have been invited to give interviews to the Kosovo Specialist Prosecution in The Hague, which is investigating alleged violations by Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighters during and just after the 1998-99 war.