Police clash with Kosovo protesters over bid to curb Hague war crimes court

The political dispute over the court has become a factor in negotiations to hold a new presidential election.

Police have clashed with protesters outside Kosovo’s Parliament over plans to limit the powers of a Hague-based war crimes court.

The violence broke out on Monday evening after Parliament ended its session without passing the proposed changes, which concerned the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a court dedicated to crimes committed during the Kosovo War from ۱۹۹۸ to ۲۰۰۰.

Founded in ۲۰۱۵, the court is an independent part of Kosovo’s judicial system, based in The Hague and staffed internationally.

Critics, however, have accused the court’s verdicts of being overly punitive. The amendments before Parliament would limit sentences to ۱۵ years, allow sentences to be served in Kosovo and permit appeals to the self-declared republic’s Supreme Court.

The changes passed a first reading earlier on Monday, but Parliament adjourned before a second vote could be held.

Several hundred protesters had gathered outside the Parliament building in Pristina, including supporters and veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the ethnic Albanian rebel force that fought Serbian troops in the war.

Some tried to block lawmakers from leaving after the session ended. Police used tear gas and water cannons in an attempt to disperse the protesters, some of whom threw flares and firecrackers.

Naser Syla, the emergency director at a hospital in Pristina, told The Associated Press news agency that ۱۲ people were injured, including ۱۱ civilians.

The legislation follows the September ۱۶ convictions of former President Hashim Thaci and three other former KLA commanders for war crimes.

Thaci was sentenced to ۲۵ years in prison. His co-defendants received prison terms ranging from ۱۳ to ۲۵ years. They have all denied the charges.

The rulings prompted weeks of protests and were unanimously condemned by Kosovo’s Parliament in late September.

The question of reforming the court has also become tied to the political battle over Kosovo’s presidency.

Kosovo’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the self-declared republic has until October ۶ to elect a president. If lawmakers fail to do so, Parliament will be dissolved, and Kosovo will face another early election.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the largest opposition party and sponsor of the bill, has hinged its support for electing a president to the successful passage of the changes.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s governing Vetevendosje party, or the Self-Determination Movement, wants the presidential vote to take place first.

Kurti backed allowing the bill to proceed but told Parliament on Monday that the changes had been rushed.

He has also said the appeals process should be used to challenge the controversial September convictions.

Kosovo created the Specialist Chambers under pressure from Western allies to prosecute alleged crimes by KLA members.

It was based outside Kosovo partly due to concerns about political pressure and threats to witnesses.

The court remains deeply contentious in Kosovo, where many people regard the KLA as the force that fought Serbian repression and led the self-declared republic towards declaring independence.

The ۱۹۹۸-۹۹ war killed about ۱۳,۰۰۰ people, most of them ethnic Albanians, and forced about one million Kosovo Albanians from their homes.

The conflict ended after a ۷۸-day NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in ۲۰۰۸, but Belgrade does not recognise its sovereignty.