American Marconi Wireless News - Hague court lays fresh charges against ex-Kosovo leader Thaci

Thaci "has been charged with three counts of obstruction of official persons in performing official duties, four counts of violating secrecy of proceedings and four counts of contempt of court", said a statement released by prosecutors.

A separate statement by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) in The Hague said, "the indictment charges the accused with offences related to alleged unlawful efforts to influence witness testimonies in the Thaci et al war crimes trial".

Four others were charged with Thaci, including the former head of Kosovo's intelligence agency Bashkim Smakaj and Hajredin Kuci, who previously served as deputy prime minister and justice minister.

According to the court statement, Thaci provided the four with confidential information about the prosecution's witnesses and had "instructed them to influence" their testimonies.

Thaci is set to appear in a public hearing connected with the new charges on Sunday.

The KSC is a court located in The Hague to prosecute mainly former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighters for war crimes.

Among them is former KLA commander Thaci, who dominated Kosovo's politics after it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and rose to become president.

Thaci resigned from the presidency in late 2020 to face war crimes and crimes against humanity charges, and has pleaded not guilty.

- Tarnished hero -

Thaci is widely seen as a guerilla hero in Kosovo, but prosecutors said he openly oversaw a brutal reign of violence as the ethnic Albanian KLA tried to tighten their grip on power during and after the war.

The Kosovo war, the last of the 1990s conflicts that tore apart the former Yugoslavia, claimed some 13,000 lives.

It ended after a NATO bombing campaign forced Serb forces to withdraw.

Dubbed the "George Washington of Kosovo" by then-US vice president Joe Biden, Thaci was the young nation's first prime minister after it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

But he has long been dogged by allegations of crimes during and after the war, along with accusations of corruption in Kosovo, where KLA commanders retain key roles in public life.

The KSC was set up in 2015 after a 2010 Council of Europe report linked Thaci to organised crime during and after the war.

International tensions remain high over Kosovo, which has been recognised by many Western countries but not by Serbia, Russia or China.

P.Martin--AMWN