Drecun: So-called Kosovo rests upon joint criminal enterprise, brutal crimes and ethnic cleansing

BELGRADE - The indictment against former leaders of the so-called "Kosovo Liberation Army" - Hasim Taci, Kadri Veseli, Redzep Selimi and Jakup Krasnici - is based on a joint criminal enterprise, says the chair of the Serbian parliamentary committee on defence and interior affairs, Milovan Drecun, adding that the "false state of Kosovo rests upon that joint criminal enterprise, brutal crimes and ethnic cleansing."

Speaking to Tanjug on Tuesday, Drecun said all ethnic Albanian political parties in Kosovo-Metohija had reacted very negatively to the closing argument of The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers' special prosecutor in a trial of the four former "KLA" leaders.

"They (the parties) are afraid to face the truth about events from 1998 and 1999," Drecun said.

The group's conviction in the trial would show that the so-called Kosovo is based on a joint criminal enterprise, brutal crimes and ethnic cleansing, he explained.

"They will demonstrate an identical position - that they do not acknowledge the court's decision," he added.

"Who of them is ready to admit that it (the 'KLA') was a criminal organisation, and that the so-called Kosovo is based on brutal ethnic cleansing, killings and expulsions of people, gruesome murders, rape and illegal detentions? Who in Albania is ready to admit that Albania was involved in all that?" Drecun asked.

There would be no indictment whatsoever, or any evidence of the hierarchical organisation of the terrorist "KLA", if a Serbian working group set up to gather evidence of crimes committed by the KLA had not done its job, said Drecun, who established the group as then head of the parliamentary committee on Kosovo-Metohija.

"We have provided ample evidence, so now you can simply not hide the fact that the so-called Kosovo is based on a joint criminal enterprise. That is the political consequence of that, and that is why Albanians and Albanian political leaders are condemning all this now," Drecun said.

He noted that witnesses had faced great pressure during the trial and that the prosecutor's office had proved that they had been threatened, blackmailed or offered money to alter their testimonies.

Drecun said he was hoping the former "KLA" leaders would be convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

"In case of an acquittal, the Albanians would use it en masse for an international campaign that would be aimed at boosting their credibility a little and at giving them the international capacities they are lacking, and at justifying everything that was going on in 1998 and 1999, as well as after 1999, as well as at justifying the criminal NATO aggression, the unilaterally declared independence of 'Kosovo' and ethnic cleansing," Drecun said.

In case of a conviction, justice will be served for some of the victims, he noted.

"The biggest problem is that not all crimes - especially crimes against the Serbs - have been tried," Drecun said.