| Vizitorët online në arkiv:
vizitorë |
|
| » UNMIK’s justice |
| Postuar më datën: 2008-01-25 15:41:37 nga admin4 :: Kategoria: English |
| » Opcionet për artikullin |
|
I was arrested on February 10, 2007, after the movement VETËVENDOSJE!, of which I am one of the leaders, held a non-violent demonstration. The fourth session in the case against me will be held on January 30. I am charged with: organising a crowd that committed a criminal offence (namely “attempting to cause general danger and/or large-scale property damage”), obstructing official persons in performing their duties (defined as forming a police cordon in the street), and calling for resistance (referred to as inciting people to break the police cordon). I am facing a sentence of up to ten years. |
|
Albin KURTI
I have shown elsewhere that these charges are absurd down to their smallest details (see www.freealbinkurti.org), and I am now writing to you to explain why I think the case against me should be dismissed and to indicate the human rights violations occurring throughout the legal proceedings. Everyone has the right to a life of dignity and justice. International human rights conventions have been formulated exactly with the purpose of protecting this right. The violations of my human rights, fundamentally my right to a fair trial, in the case against me makes it clear that Kosova under UN rule is exempt from this international order of human rights.
First of all I find it necessary to explain in brief why VETËVENDOSJE! demonstrated on February 10, 2007, and what happened that day. VETËVENDOSJE! is a non-violent, political opposition movement with volunteer activists working for the self-determination of Kosova. On February 10, VETËVENDOSJE! demonstrated against the Ahtisaari package – which we believe will bring Kosova war and misery – and UNMIK’s undemocratic regime here. During the demonstration two peaceful protesters were shot dead by UN police, with outdated rubber bullets fired at short range at the protesters heads. Over eighty other protestors were injured by rubber bullets, one of whom has lost an eye and two of whom were in intensive care for days.
Despite UNMIK’s own Special Prosecutor Robert Dean’s report confirming that the police reaction on February 10 was criminal, UNMIK refused to hold a criminal investigation into the events. While it has been established that the killers were from a Romanian Special Police Unit, the UN prosecutor argued against prosecuting them because it was not possible to link the bullets to individual firing weapons. In his second report, Dean identified a breakdown in the chain of command as the cause of the deaths, but again refused to start an investigation to identify the individuals responsible. The Romanian police were secretly allowed to leave Kosova, and no one in charge for the criminal police operation has been held accountable. In its desperation to find a scapegoat to bear the blame for its crime, UNMIK instead chose me to face trial.
Arrest and Detention
When arresting me after the February 10 demonstration, the Kosova Police Service did not present any warrant, nor inform me of the reasons for my arrest or the relevant applicable law or facts relating to it. Instead, the police violently entered VETËVENDOSJE!’s office, used pepper spray against me and several other VETËVENDOSJE! activists, kicked and beat me and others in our office including one female activist, Shkurta Aliu, who was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital. No policeman was beaten or injured during my arrest.
My detention did not have any legal basis until February 13, when a detention hearing was held, closed to the public. Since that date, my detention has been prolonged usually in my absence and sometimes even without my knowledge. Several of the following detention hearings have also been closed to the public.
The International Helsinki Federation (IHF) and Amnesty International (AI) have pointed out that my detention always had a weak legal basis, lacked sufficient justification and thus amounted to an unlawful deprivation of liberty. Furthermore, the current two month-gap between the third and the fourth session in the case against me – from December 4, 2007 to January 30, 2008 – proves that the UNMIK court does not intend to conduct the proceedings with the required expedition, but rather aims to have the case last as long as possible.
When transferring me to house arrest for the first time, I was, without any legal reasoning prohibited from having contact with VETËVENDOSJE! or the media. In my later house arrest, these restrictions were removed without explanation, but instead a 24-hour police guard (consisting of two armed policemen) was placed outside my door and I was not allowed to step outside the door of my apartment. This was unprecedented in the history of Kosova, and was never legally justified. While in detention in prison, the IHF was denied access to visit me, while international visitors, among others the American diplomat William Walker who tried to persuade me not to arrange demonstrations, were allowed immediately.
Fair Trial
Presumption of Innocence
The case against me and my detention in particular, has from the start rested on the presumption of guilt, not of innocence. This is apparent not only in the decisions and actions of the judges presiding over my case. Kosova’s local and international authorities and public officials – including several local politicians, the spokesman of the Kosova Police Service Veton Elshani, the Head of the American Office in Kosova Tina Kaidanow, and the former deputy head of UNMIK (the Deputy SRSG) Steven Schook – have since day one of my arrest publicly issued defamatory statements about me and VETËVENDOSJE!, and expressed the opinion that I am guilty.
Equality Before the Law
Since the very beginning of the case against me I was placed at a disadvantage compared to the prosecution. I was treated differently, not allowed to express myself, and even was subjected to verbal insult: When the trial started on September 19, I objected to the presiding panel of judges for their endorsement of the violations in the case against me, and for their lack of independence and impartiality – the panel represents UNMIK, which is also the offended and prosecuting party in my case. After asking me to explain my objection to the panel, the presiding Judge Maurizio Salustro, interrupted me by shouting “shut up!” twice, and closed the session without allowing me to speak.
What is more, the first court session on September 19 started with the reading of a completely new and unconfirmed indictment, without prior notification. I was not informed about these new charges against me nor the applicable law and alleged facts on which they were based. On the following court session on November 15, Judge Salustro declared without any explanation that this new indictment should be ignored.
I never accepted to have a defence council in this case, since he would be appointed by UNMIK. As UNMIK is the judging, prosecuting and offended party in my case, my so-called defence thus faces a conflict of interest between serving me and the authority that appointed him. Despite this repeatedly expressed view, UNMIK appointed a defence to my case. During the second court session, on November 15, Judge Salustro chose Fazli Balaj as my fourth so-called defence in an utterly unprofessional manner. Within one hour and without any proper vetting process Balaj appeared in court without having had time to familiarise himself with the case or prepare his defence. What is worse, Balaj has publicly stated on Kosova TV that I am guilty for more than I am currently charged for – see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7wjbVLglIs. In court, he openly opposed my arguments. At one point, Balaj’s behaviour made the prosecution ask Judge Salustro to clarify the role of the mandatory defence counsel since he appeared to be acting against me.
In the third court session on 4 December 2007 I submitted a DVD to the court proving Balaj’s open condemnation of me and VETËVENDOSJE! for the protest on February 10. There were technical problems which prevented the panel of judges from watching the DVD at that time, but Judge Salustro decided to continue the hearing, ignoring the required examination of the evidence I brought against my so-called defence. The court did not issue a ruling giving reasons for ignoring the DVD evidence.
When the IHF was denied the right to visit me in pre-trial detention in prison, they learned that I had been classified as a “Category A” prisoner – a categorisation reserved for the most dangerous prisoners in Kosova. Neither I nor my so-called defence council had been informed of this categorisation or about its implications. Since the prosecution was aware of this categorisation, this violated the “equality of arms” principle, as pointed out by the IHF. This principle was also violated when the presiding judge during my pre-trial detention approached the prosecution and asked “what do you want me to do next?”
Right to Appeal
Although the court case against me does not even meet the “minimum” requirements regarding the right to a fair hearing, I am denied all options for appeal or remedy. There are no independent mechanisms through which I can initiate a complaint process against UNMIK, the judges or prosecution in my case, and no higher authority to which I can appeal or seek justice. The European Court for Human Rights, for example, has no jurisdiction over Kosova under UNMIK rule.
Independence and Impartiality
The judiciary in Kosova is not independent or impartial, as pointed out by the Human Rights Watch, the IHF and AI. Furthermore, there is no separation of powers in Kosova protecting the judiciary from undue interference: UNMIK and its head, the SRSG represents and personifies all judiciary, executive and legislative authorities. The SRSG also has the power to revoke and amend court judgments. This lack of independence and impartiality has been crystallised particularly during the case against me: SRSG Joachim Ruecker who appoints all judges and prosecutors in Kosova – including, of course, the ones in my case – is listed personally as an offended party in the indictment against me.
It is evident that the motive for the case against me is political, not legal. The international UNMIK system presiding over my case normally deals only with inter-ethnic crime and war crimes, but quickly adopted the case against me without explaining why. However, their reasons for taking the case are clear. My very work as a non-violent political activist in VETËVENDOSJE! is focused on opposing the undemocratic UNMIK system and winning the right to a referendum for the people of Kosova. As a non-violent, voluntary political opposition movement, VETËVENDOSJE! is working to make Kosova a place of justice, freedom, dignity and prosperity, free from international rule. The non-violent demonstration on February 10, which is the focus of the case against me, was an act of dissent against UNMIK and a call for self-determination for the people of Kosova.
Since my voice of non-violent opposition against UNMIK is gaining support in Kosova, it is clearly in UNMIK’s interest to silence me and isolate me from people who could join me. The fact that during more than 10 months in detention I was interrogated only once – and then only for 30 minutes – confirms that isolation, not truth or investigation, was always UNMIK’s aim for my detention. During the process against me, the prosecution has even openly tried to use my political role to argue for continued detention, referring to the “danger” I pose to the Kosova future status process. The case is motivated by UNMIK’s desire to silence and isolate me, and marginalise VETËVENDOSJE!’s non-violent political opposition by portraying the movement as violent and extreme.
That the charges against me are without any legal grounds was again proved in the third session in the case on December 5. In this session, the prosecution’s key witness, Kosova Police Officer Ismet Hajdini, stated that contrary to the prosecution’s transcripts he had not seen me throw any rocks on February 10, nor heard me call for any rock throwing. He said that the demonstration that day had been peaceful until the cordon was broken and the police fired tear gas, and that he had heard no warnings issued to the protesters by the police that day.
On December 19, 2007, I was released from house arrest because of outside pressure on UNMIK regarding my detention, notably an AI statement dated December 10. Paradoxically, the main reason for lifting the house arrest was to ensure that the case could continue more easily – removing the house arrest has decreased pressure on UNMIK and enabled it to continue its political and farcical process against me.
The human rights violations in the case proceedings against me crystallise the brutal injustice UNMIK represents and promotes in Kosova. The case is an expression of systematic contempt for universal principles of justice and dignity, contrary to everything the UN is supposed to stand for in the world. Since I do not recognise UNMIK or its judiciary I have in this case limited my interaction with it to what I have been forced to do (I have been brought to court by police guards), and what I have deemed necessary to represent myself and VETËVENDOSJE!. I have also pointed out how UNMIK violates even its own laws and – as in this letter – indicated some of the human rights violations that have occurred. I have no other intentions regarding the proceedings against me, not even to obstruct them.
Despite not being obliged to actively cooperate in these criminal proceedings (as confirmed by the European Court for Human Rights, e.g. in the case Yagci and Saragin v Turkey, June 8, 1995), I have in court outlined why the indictment against me is fundamentally absurd, why I oppose the case and the UNMIK system, as well as questioned the only witness so far in the case. My strictly limited interaction with the court has always been aimed at promoting rather than obstructing justice: by not engaging with UNMIK’s unjust judiciary, I am continuing to work for a just Kosova. While not interacting with an undignified, unfair court in an absurd, political case, I am working with the people of Kosova for a country of dignity and fairness.
24.01.2008 |
| --------- |
| • TITUJ TË NGJASHËM |
|
Copyright © 2000-2008 DERVINA.COM - Të gjitha të drejtat e rezervuara
Arkivi u punua nga A.Nushi - Webmaster |
|
