Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office(Photo:Wikimedia/DennisHH)
At the initial appearance before the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) officer, Kadri Veseli, pleaded not guilty to crimes against Albanians, Serbs and Roma across Kosovo and in Albania, committed in 1998 and 1999.
"I plead no guilty to all charges of the indictment," said Veseli, aged 53, after a pre-trial judge, Nicolas Guillou, asked him to enter a plea on 10 counts of the indictment.
Veseli's British lawyer, Ben Emmerson, said in a video call during the hearing the he would request a pre-trial release for Veseli, as his client wasn't arrested, but surrendered voluntarily in an arrangement with the prosecution.
During the time covered by the indictment, from March 1998 to September 1990, Veseli was the KLA intelligence chief and the minister of security in Kosovo's self-proclaimed provisional government. The court has charged Veseli with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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