Kosovo: US says Kosovo war crimes trial at mercy of Russia after parliament vote

Europe Linda Digby 17 Jul 2015 Print Email

The United States says it won’t block Russia’s attempts to establish a UN tribunal to investigate allegations that Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian wartime leaders killed hundreds of Serb civilians. The country’s lawmakers rejected amendments to the constitution to allow a Western-backed court to deal with the claims. The US Embassy in Kosovo said it was ‘deeply disappointed’ by Friday’s vote. A 2010 Council of Europe report claimed former rebel leader turned politician Hashim Thaçi and other Kosovo guerrillas ran a criminal ring in 1999 and that some victims were allegedly killed for their organs to be sold on the black market. The 120-seat legislature voted in favour of the amendments, but failed to secure a two-thirds majority to approve the changes. (Hashim Thaçi served as the prime minister of Kosovo from 2008 to 2014 . Just weeks after assuming the premiership, he oversaw Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia.)