Former Kosovo minister held on contempt granted provisional release by UN tribunal

The United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s has ordered the provisional release of Kosovo’s ex-minister for culture, youth and sport, who was convicted of contempt of court for trying to intimidate a witness in a war crimes trial.

Astrit Haraqija has completed his five-month sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which found him guilty of trying to persuade a Prosecution witness not to testify in the trial of former Kosovo Albanian military leader Ramush Haradinaj.

Both the Prosecution and the Defence have appealed the Tribunal’s judgement to release Mr. Haraqija, whose freedom is now dependent on the outcome of the Appeals judgement.

Bajrush Morina, part-time editor of the Kosovo newspaper Bota Sot and former political advisor to the Deputy Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport, was also accused of the same crime and received a three month sentence, having been granted provisional release in February.

“The Tribunal holds the safety of its witnesses and confidentiality of its protected materials in high regard,” it said in a press release issued in The Hague. To date, dozens of people have been charged with witness intimidations, refusing to answer questions in court, leaking confidential court documents and breaching protective measures.