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Belgrade – Evidence of the “yellow house” case in Albania was found during the investigation of Ramush Haradinaj’s war crimes, writes Sputnik.
Source: Sputnik
EPA / CHRISTOPHE KARABA
They were held for six months and the Hague Tribunal did not have a mandate to investigate further in Albania, as it was established solely for the investigation of war crimes on the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Vladimir Vukčević, a former war crimes prosecutor for the Republic of Serbia, spoke on behalf of Sputnik. He was probably one of the first to receive documentation on the investigation in Albania that The Hague and UNMIK carried out on the “yellow house”.
Vukcevic explains that the “yellow house” evidence emerged during the Hague investigation against Ramush Haradinaj.
“Everything that was found in Albania was photographed and it was determined at the site that there was medical waste and blood that, according to local Albanians, was animal blood. However, forensic expert José Barabar was also on that team. He immediately took a sample and said it was human blood. After that, all that medical waste was photographed, collected and brought to the Court in The Hague, “Vukcevic said.
As he says, when the evidence brought to The Hague was determined to have nothing to do with the Haradinaj case, that material failed. The former prosecutor affirms that the head of the investigator was Patrick Lofer, and that the Peruvian pathologist José Pablo Barabar and the American journalist Montgomery were there, accompanied by members of KFOR.
Vukčević claims that he had good cooperation with the Hague Tribunal at that time and that he received all Albanian photographic documentation from them, but not as official.
“As soon as I received it, I immediately reviewed it through our well-known doctor, who explained to me based on the medical waste seen in the photos, as well as the names of the medications that were mentioned for muscle relaxation during the organ transplants. “It was a sign that something like that really was done there. In order to react officially, I asked the UN Security Council for this photographic documentation, and officially, and it was sent, “explains Vukcevic.
The former prosecutor goes on to say that the then legal advisor to the US embassy, San Lázaro, who was also the prosecutor himself and with whom he had a correct relationship, heard that something was happening and came to see what it was about.
“I showed him all the documentation and that’s where Hashim Thaci’s name was mentioned for the first time, even though it was his favorite at the time. They asked me about our next move and I told them that we would check it, because in the meantime we got knowledge that the remains of people whose organs were removed were buried in 11 places in Albania, ”he said.
Vukčević further says that the Americans arranged his visit to Tirana to meet with their prosecutor Ina Rama, whom he asked to verify that information together.
“She asked for three days to think a bit, but when we returned, they informed us that they would not cooperate with us on that issue. After that, I went to the European Parliament where I brought up this issue. And there was Dick Marty, then on the spot.” the human rights rapporteur at the Council of Europe, who approached me and took an interest, after which he came to Belgrade and I gave him everything we had, checked it on the ground and checked that everything we found was correct. what was not done was the exhumation of the remains because the Albanians did not allow it, “said Vukcevic.
The Sputnik interlocutor also recalls that the decision was made later in the formation of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Clint Williamson and later David Schwendiman. Vukcevic says that Williamson previously, with logistical support from Serbia, heard between 200 and 300 witnesses related to that case at the premises of the Special Prosecutor’s Office in Ustanicka.
“Then he received confirmation of those accusations, and then a final decision was made on the establishment of the KLA Special War Crimes Tribunal,” reveals Vukcevic.
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