Jakup Krasniqi begins testimony at the trial of the three men charged with the crimes in the Lapusnik camp. He is a former member of the KLA Main Staff and spokesperson of that organisation. He has been subpoenaed to testify in The Hague

Jakup Krasniqi, former member of the KLA Main Staff and spokesperson of that organisation, began his testimony today as part of the prosecution case in the “Limaj et al.” case, noting: “I was not willing to testify [for the prosecution] because to this day I believe that the KLA did not commit the crimes it has been accused of.” According to him, the indictment for the crimes in the Lapusnik camp is ”politically motivated” and is based on the “evidence provided by people in the service of the occupier in Kosovo.” Krasniqi came to The Hague after he had been issued a subpoena.

Former KLA members, Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala and Isak Musliu, have been charged with the maltreatment and killings of Albanian and Serbian detainees in the camp in Lapusnik, near Glogovac, in the spring of 1998.

The prosecutor's questions in the first part of Krasniqi’s testimony pertained to his political activities in the period up to 1998. He said that he had been a member of Rugova’s Democratic League of Kosovo until March 1998, when he decided that “this road did not lead anywhere.” As Krasniqi said, he was always in the political wing of the KLA, not in the military. Today, Krasniqi is the secretary-general of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK) and the chairman of the club of deputies of that party in the Kosovo Parliament.

As there will be no trials tomorrow at the Tribunal due to the judges’ plenary session, Jakup Krasniqi will continue his testimony on Monday, 14 February.

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