Šešelj’s trial chamber to hear Haradinaj case

The Hague, January 21 (Source: B92) - The Trial Chamber presided by Judge Alphons Orie will begin the trial of three former KLA commanders.

Dutch judge Alphons Orie will be the presiding judge in the Chamber hearing the case against three former KLA commanders: Ramush Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj. The other two judges in the Trial Chamber are Ole Bjorn Stole from Norway and Frank Hoepfel from Austria.

The Chamber that was to try Vojislav Šešelj will thus take on a new case, after the Šešelj trial had first begun, only to re-start and finally to be adjourned indefinitely until the accused is ready to proceed to the trial.

The exact date of the beginning of the trial of the three former KLA commanders has not yet been set. The last status conference heard that it would begin "soon".

Haradinaj, Balaj and Brahimaj are charged with intimidation, kidnapping, detention, beating, torture and killing of Serbian civilians and of Albanians and Roma suspected of collaborating with the Serbian authorities.

Those crimes, as alleged in the indictment, were committed in the period between March and September 1998 with the aim of achieving and reinforcing the "total KLA control over the Dukagjin operational zone".

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