Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci is named 27 times in the highly critical report
By Nick Thorpe
BBC News
Former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders are accused of serious human rights abuses, including organ and drug trafficking in a report from the human rights body, the Council of Europe.
A draft copy, seen by the BBC, names Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's current prime minister and wartime political leader of the KLA, 27 times in as many pages.
The Kosovo government has dismissed the draft as "baseless and defamatory".
The report is due to be published on Thursday.
'Organised crime'
The draft report is the result of a two year investigation by the special rapporteur of the Council of Europe, Dick Marty.
The version seen by the BBC confirms many of the details of a special BBC investigation in April 2009.
That BBC report presented evidence of the cross-border transfer of both Serb and Albanian prisoners of the KLA from Kosovo to Albania.
The Drenica group within the KLA which was led by Mr Thaci is accused of involvement in organised crime, including drug trafficking and the trafficking of human organs.
Evidence is also presented of organised crime activities continuing up to the present day.
In its first reaction, the Kosovo government warned of legal and political steps against what it described as 'slanders'.
The report is due to be presented to the legal and human rights committee of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment