Carla del Ponte

The government of the Republic of Albania (GoA) welcomes the Hague-based tribunal ruling that acquitted of all charges the former Kosova Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) cleared Haradinaj during a retrial following an investigation process that lasted for years under the reiterated charges of the former Hague Tribunal prosecutor Carla del Ponte.

The government of Albania draws the attention to the praise-worthy stance that the former prime minister Haradinaj took in front of the ICTY relevant procedure, his resignation from the post of the prime minister and his appearance before the tribunal, his stance when the tribunal ordered a retrial on the same charges irrespective of the ICTY declaring him already innocent.

The Albanian public opinion has been deeply shocked by the recent statements of the ICTY renowned prosecutors, those who put charges against Slobodan Milosevic and the perpetrators of Srebrenica massacre, in which they affirm that the charges filed against the former PM Haradinaj and his collaborators by Prosecutor Carla del Ponte were laid without enough proof. Also Carla del Ponte ignored and rejected the relevant prosecutors recommendations against filing the charges on Haradinaj because of lack of evidence and further demanded the erase of the recommendation from the ICTY e-archive and their dismissal from the court case.

On the basis of these statements, the government of the Republic of Albania is set to demand from the relevant international instances to authorize and launch an independent probe against the former Hague Tribunal prosecutor Carla del Ponte about her claims made and for her tendentious and illegal role in the case against former Kosova PM Haradinaj. Also GoA demands from the U.N. Secretary General and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to immediately launch an investigation to bring to evidence the truth on this matter.

The government of Albania shares the formal request of Croatia for an independent investigation of Prosecutor Carla del Ponte in regard to charge brought against General Gotovina and his collaborators whom the Hague Tribunal acquitted of charges, too. a.b/noa.al