Byzantine Blog

Procedure Against Søren Jessen-Petersen

Serbia's Director of the National Council Office for Cooperation with the Hague tribunal Dusan Ignatovic said Friday that the Council has decided to request from the UN secretary general to launch an inquiry into the activities of UNMIK officials regarding the claims made by the former Hague chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in her book "The Hunt".

"Former UNMIK chief Søren Jessen-Petersen was a special representative of the UN secretary general, which is why the investigation is important", Ignatovic told Tanjug.

"The Council decided Thursday to ask the Hague prosecution to start proceedings against Petersen and other UNMIK officials based on the allegations that they obstructed investigation and showed contempt of the court," he said.

"The Council has been long aware of Petersen's bizarre relationship with Ramush Haradinaj, who was indicted for the most horrible crimes," he said.

Petersen, a Danish diplomat who held the highest posts in the European Union organization and in various UN offices, used to call Haradinaj "his friend" and was describing him as a "factor of peace and stability" in Kosovo-Metohija province, Ignatovic noted.

"The state must react to Del Ponte's report in her book, according to which the UNMIK officials obstructed the investigation of Haradinaj's and the KLA crimes, including the kidnapping of Serbs who were taken to northern Albania where they were killed after their body parts were removed and sold," Ignjatovic said.

Carla Del Ponte About Petersen

Excerpt from Del Ponte's book The Hunt: Me and War Criminals

"After he was informed about his indictment on March 8, 2005, Haradinaj gave a patriotic speech in which he rejected all the charges and announced he will surrender [to the Hague] the next day... Apparently, the issuing of the indictment was a greater blow for the UNMIK chief Søren Jessen-Petersen, than for Haradinaj himself. Jessen-Petersen had formed a friendship with Haradinaj, and he was not hiding it...

"I can't hide the fact that his resignation [from the post of provisional prime minister] will leave a big hole. Thanks to the dynamic leadership of Ramush Haradinaj, thanks to his efforts and the vision, Kosovo is today—more than ever before—closer to fulfillment in solving its future status. I am personally very sad because I will no longer work with the partner and friend such as Haradinaj. It is important that Kosovo people responds [to Haradinaj's indictment] with equally high dignity and maturity as Haradinaj has shown. I understand the shock and the rage this kind of development has caused, but I invite the Kosovo people to be guided by the peaceful goals when expressing their emotions. The violent reaction will not help Kosovo. It will only serve the interests of those who are determined to stop progress in Kosovo. That would be a big step back in comparison to everything Kosovo has achieved lately, it would invalidate everything that was achieved, especially those things Haradinaj has done while he was at the government's helm... I'm convinced Haradinaj will be again given an opportunity to serve Kosovo, for which he sacrificed and to which he contributed so much."

"... Petersen's praise of Haradinaj at the same time revealed how weak UNMIK really is, and how entangled it is with Albanians who, during the 2004 riots, practically shattered the UN Mission. It also demonstrated that the UN secretary general's special envoy and the chief of the civilian UN Mission in Kosovo had publicly taken Haradinaj's side in the trial before the UN tribunal in the Hague."

Ljajic: Jessen-Petersen Most Responsible for Obstructing Process Against Haradinaj

In the interview to Glas Javnosti, Serbia's President of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague tribunal Rasim Ljajic said Jessen-Petersen "bears most responsibility for failure to make the adequate, valid evidence in the case against Haradinaj available".

According to Ljajic, UNMIK officials have done nothing to protect the prosecution witnesses, or to make the evidence against Haradinaj and other KLA terrorists available.

Asked what are the things Petersen has done, or avoided doing in order to help Haradinaj, Ljajic said that the Hague has called 34 witnesses from Kosovo-Metohija province in the process against Haradinaj, most of whom were protected witnesses.

"Of those 34 witnesses—there were more, but these were particularly important since they were the eyewitnesses to the crimes—only one ended up testifying. Nine were killed, the others were terrified and threatened, so no one else would testify. Many were even charged with the contempt of the court, because they first accepted, then refused to testify. And it was Jessen-Petersen's duty, as the chief administrator in Kosovo province, to secure and protect those witnesses and, like we do, to provide the tribunal with everything it needs," Ljajic said.

"We are constantly showered with requests to relieve some witnesses of the obligation to protect the state secrets, so they could testify in the processes before the tribunal. When we don't do it, we are instantly accused of unwillingness to cooperate, and here is someone who embodied the actual power in Kosovo province, who was supposed to represent the United Nations in the province, who has not only failed to do a single thing to enable those people to testify, but who also didn't provide a single requested document," Ljajic said.

He reminded that Jessen-Petersen constantly praised Haradinaj as a "factor of peace and stability" and said it is well known he was pressuring tribunal to grant a conditional release to Haradinaj, which the Hague approved.

"That is absolutely shameful. It is the first case where a person was allowed to run a political campaign while under the Hague tribunal's indictment", said Ljajic.

Top UNMIK Officials Obstruct Investigation of Crimes Against Non-Albanians

In the statement the Council for Hague tribunal cooperation has issued a day earlier, it is noted that the abysmal failure of the UNMIK to protect the witnesses called to testify against Haradinaj resulted in deaths of 9 witnesses, who were "run over, stabbed with knives or killed by firearms".

"Some witnesses, due to the obviously justified fears, have even accepted to be punished for the contempt of the court, only to avoid testifying," the statement reads, adding that "as the witnesses were disappearing one after the other, Haradinaj was granted a conditional release by the Hague, under immense pressure by the UNMIK officials."

The statement notes that the highest UNMIK officials, Jessen-Petersen first and foremost, were competing in expressions of admiration and friendship to war criminal Haradinaj. The Council considers necessary for the UN to investigate the actions and behavior of its representatives in Kosovo-Metohija province, especially given that Hague's former chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has accused UNMIK for obstructing tribunal's work and investigations of both Haradinaj's and the KLA crimes' in general. According to the Council, the need for investigation of UNMIK officials is particularly emphasized in the light of serious indications that horrific crimes were being committed in the midst of UNMIK, with non-Albanians being kidnapped and carved up for organ-harvesting.

The Council concludes it has done everything in its power to aid Hague prosecution in the case against war criminal Haradinaj.

"Each of the prosecution requests for help was attended to and several thousand of confidential documents were handed over to the prosecution based on their requests," the statement reads, noting that only during the last one-year period it has delivered 2,174 documents to the Hague prosecution in the case against Haradinaj.

According to the Council, at the request of the prosecution, Serbia has relieved 29 witnesses from the obligation of protecting state secrets, so they could testify in this process, while the authorities provided efficient protection for the witnesses in the territory under Serbia's jurisdiction.