PRISHTINA, Oct 12 /ATA/ – European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said amendments to the law governing the Kosovo Specialist Chambers run counter to Kosovo’s fundamental obligations towards the European Union and were unacceptable.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Oct. 12, Kos criticised changes to the legal framework while judicial proceedings are still under way.
“I want to be clear that amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers run counter to Kosovo’s fundamental obligations towards the EU. This is unacceptable,” Kos stated.
Changing the rules while court proceedings are ongoing runs counter to international rule-of-law standards, she added.
“My message is very simple. European enlargement is moving forward. If candidate countries take steps backwards, they are not on the right track and will not be able to become EU members,” she added.
Kos’s remarks came after Kosovo’s parliament approved amendments last week to the law governing the functioning of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague, commonly known as the Kosovo Specialist Court.
The amendments were proposed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) just five days after a Sept. 16 verdict in which the Specialist Chambers sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders – Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi – to a combined 81 years in prison for war crimes.
All four pleaded not guilty throughout the trial.
The amendments seek to narrow the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers by restricting the period covered by the court’s mandate and the categories of criminal offences it can try.
Among other provisions, they would cap prison sentences at 15 years, allow appeals to Kosovo’s Supreme Court and permit sentences to be served in Kosovo.
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