Hague tribunal weighs Haradinaj’s appeal

According to an announcement Monday, an appeals chamber of the UN war crimes tribunal plans to rule July 21st on the verdict handed down to former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and two other former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In 2008, Haradinaj and Idriz Balaj were acquitted of war crimes charges, while co-defendant Lahi Brahimaj received a six-year sentence for torture and cruelty against ethnic Serb and Roma civilians, as well as of Kosovo Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbian forces in 1998. UN prosecutors have appealed parts of the sentence, demanding the reopening of six of the 37 counts. Prosecutors, who had sought 25-year sentences for each defendant, cited witness intimidation as a factor in the trial.