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War crimes trial of former Kosovo leader commences

UN prosecutor Carla Del Ponte on Monday told judges that former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was a warlord and a gangster, as he went on trial for war crimes.

"These three come before you are accused of crimes: ugly, cruel and violent crimes," Del Ponte said of Haradinaj and his two co-accused, the former rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) officers Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj.

"The prosecution will prove that these men, this warlord [Haradinaj], his lieutenant and his jailer, have blood on their hands," she said.

But according to a statement to the court from his defense lawyer, Ben Emmerson, Haradinaj "fought an honorable war, targeting combatants and not civilians."

Haradinaj, 38, is a former leader of the KLA, which fought against Belgrade-controlled forces in the conflict. He is still a hero to members of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

In Kosovo on Monday some 6,000 people marched in support of Haradinaj close to his home village Gllogjan, some 80km west of Pristina. Demonstrators chanted slogans demanding his release.

Back in the Hague Del Ponte stressed that Haradinaj should not be revered.

"There was nothing noble or heroic about the crimes in this case ... they were brutal and bloody murders," she said.

Balaj and Brahimaj were high-ranking KLA officers during the 1998 to 1999 conflict in the southern Serbian province. The prosecution said Brahimaj was Haradinaj's right hand man while Balaj, who controlled various detention centers, was his "jailer."

After the conflict, Haradinaj became leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo party.

The trial is only the second case involving Kosovo Albanian suspects at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The three men face a total of 37 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, torture and rape. If convicted they face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"The three accused were gangsters in uniform and in control ... that proved to be a sinister and deadly combination for the victims in this case," Del Ponte said.

According to the prosecution, the men formed a criminal enterprise aimed at driving out from the region under their control Serb civilians and others perceived to be collaborating with the Serbs or not supporting the KLA.

They are also charged with overseeing the setting up of detention centers where civilians were unlawfully kept, abused and tortured by troops under Haradinaj's command.

All three men insist they are innocent.

Haradinaj was indicted in 2005 while serving as prime minister of Kosovo.
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