Russia accuses ICTY of selective justice
MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The acquittal by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of Ramush Haradinaj, former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, and people close to him indicates "selective justice," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"This verdict, along with the recent acquittal of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac, is another indication of selective justice, when persons who are accused of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes remain unpunished," the Russian Foreign Ministry's press and information department said in a commentary on the court ruling in the Haradinaj case on Friday.
Russia firmly intends to seek the completion of the tribunal's work in the time period established by UN Security Council Resolution 1966, the commentary says.
"This trial was accompanied by scandals. For the first time in the history of international justice, witnesses in this case were subjected to open blackmail and intimidation, and some of them were even physically eliminated. Those actions took place in an atmosphere of complete impunity and with the connivance of the international presences in Kosovo," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry characterized the situation in the ICTY as generally unsatisfactory.
On November 29, the ICTY acquitted Ramush Haradinaj, former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, and people close to him of all charges. The tribunal found the numerous facts of killings, forced deportation, beatings, torture, and cruel treatment of the Serb and other population not loyal to the "new administration" of the territory to be disproved.