Former Kosovo Prime Minister Acquitted of War Crimes

战争罪法庭宣判前科索沃总理无罪

　



Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has been acquitted of all charges by judges at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He and two former Commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army had been charged with murdering, raping, torturing and persecuting Serbs and their perceived collaborators in 1998.

　

设在海牙的南斯拉夫战争罪法庭的法官判定对科索沃前总理哈拉迪纳伊的所有指控不成立。哈拉迪纳伊和他的两名科索沃解放军前指挥官被指控在1998年犯有谋杀、强奸、折磨和迫害塞族人以及被认为与这些塞族人合作的人。

Clapping and cheers erupted from a packed public gallery as Judge Alphonse Orie read the verdict for Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

　

当奥列法官宣读对科索沃前总理哈拉迪纳伊的判决书时，坐满了人的公众席上响起了掌声和欢呼声。

"The chamber finds you Mr. Haradinaj not guilty and therefore acquits you of all counts," he said. "Could I have quiet please? Acquits you of all counts against you in the indictment."

　

奥列说：“本法庭认定哈拉迪纳伊先生你无罪。因此，本法庭判定对你的所有指控无效。请安静。指控书对你的所有指控无效。”

Judges said they found it difficult "to conclude whether a crime was committed or whether the KLA was involved" based on the prosecution's evidence, which they called "insufficient," "vague, inconclusive, or nonexistent" on almost all of the 37 counts. That includes the 30 bodies found in a canal that prosecutors allege were victims of the KLA, but which judges ruled were inconclusive.

　

法官们说，他们认为，根据检方提出的证据，很难“断定是否犯罪属实，科索沃解放军是否参与其中”。法官们认为，对几乎所有37项罪名提出的证据都“不足”、“模糊、难下断言或不成立”。这些证据包括在一条运河里发现的30具尸体。检方说，他们是科索沃解放军受害人，但是法官们判定证据不足。

Also charged were KLA commanders Lahi Brahimaj and Idriz Balaj. Prosecutors said the accused were part of a joint criminal enterprise to gain control of parts of Kosovo by getting rid of Serbs, Romas and any of their collaborators - real or perceived.

　

同时被起诉的是科索沃解放军指挥官卜拉欣马和巴拉伊。检方说，被告人参与一个联合犯罪行动，企图通过铲除塞族人、吉普塞人以及与他们合作的人来控制科索沃的部分地区，不论这些人是真的与塞族人进行了合作，还是只被认为是这样。

Only Brahimaj was convicted of torture and cruel treatment against two victims. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

　

只有卜拉欣马被判犯有折磨和残害两名受害人的罪行，他被判处6年监禁。

Balaj was acquitted, but ordered returned to Kosovo to complete a 15-year prison sentence handed down in 2002 in a separate case.

Judge Orie pointed out that getting evidence in this case was an uphill battle for prosecutors.

　

奥列法官指出，这个案件的取证是检方的一个难关。

"The chamber gained the strong impression that the trial was being held in an atmosphere where witnesses felt unsafe," he said.

　

奥列说：“本法庭强烈感觉到，审判进行时的氛围让证人感到不安全。”

About one-third of the 100 prosecution witnesses received protective measures and another one-fifth of them had to be subpoenaed to testify. Two of them have been arrested and are being held in contempt of court for refusing to testify.

　

在100名检方证人中，大约有三分之一的证人受到保护，另外有五分之一的证人受到传唤才出庭作证，其中两名证人因为藐视法庭拒绝作证而遭到逮捕和监禁。

A spokeswoman says prosecutors are "quite" disappointed by the verdict, which they will study before deciding whether to appeal. She says prosecutors were not able to present all the evidence they wanted in the case in which defense lawyers did not call any witnesses.

　

一名女发言人说，检方对判决书“非常”失望，他们将对判决书进行研究，然后再决定是否上诉。她说，在被告的辩护律师不传唤任何证人的案件中，检方无法举出他们所需的所有证据。

Many Serbs are also likely to be unhappy with the verdict. Aleksandar Petrovic grew up in Belgrade, but now lives in Amsterdam.

"I think this is the logical outcome of pro-western court, which is made to demonize Serbs, not Albanians," said Petrovic. "And this is a pure example of it. I did not expect anything else but that."

When Ramush Haradinaj turned himself into this court three years ago, he was prime minister of a province struggling for independence from Serbia. He will go home later this week to a newly independent nation, where analysts predict he will be considered more of a hero now than he was before he left.