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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 25 September 2020
1st Kosovar Albanian arrested on war crimes charges

Associated Press vided operational and lo-
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A gistic support to the SPO in
special international court line with its mandate and in
said Thursday that a former accordance with the Koso-
commander of the sepa- vo legislation."
ratist fighters in Kosovo's Hysni Gucati of the war vet-
1998-1999 war has been erans' association said Mus-
arrested on charges includ- tafa's family reported he
ing torture of detainees was arrested early Thursday
and the murder of one pris- and taken to The Hague.
oner held at a compound "To us, the court and its ac-
in Kosovo during the con- tions are unacceptable,"
flict. Gucati said.
The Kosovo Specialist The association has said
Chambers, based in The it anonymously received
Hague, said former Koso- thousands of confiden-
vo Liberation Army com- tial files during the last two
mander Salih Mustafa was months, which contain
arrested based on a "war- names of witnesses and
rant, transfer order and also draft charges against
confirmed indictment is- former top KLA command-
sued by a pre-trial judge." ers. It wasn't clear wheth-
He is the first ethnic Alba- Hysni Gucati head of the War Veterans Organization of the Kosovo Liberation Army looks at a er the files were stolen or
photo of his co-fighter former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Salih Mustafa after news of his
nian arrested and sent to arrest, during an interview with The Associated Press, in Pristina, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. leaked by someone in-
the court, which is inves- Associated Press volved in the investigation.
tigating war crimes and The war veterans said they
crimes against humanity in- cording to the indictment. before a pre-trial judge transitional unit before be- would make them pub-
vestigation stemming from In one incident alleged in "without undue delay." coming a regular army. lic, a move which a court
Kosovo's conflict with Ser- the indictment, Mustafa The Kosovo Liberation The Kosovo Specialist spokesman warned would
bia. interrogated a detainee Army was made up of eth- Chambers and an at- undermine the proper ad-
Mustafa is charged with "about his knowledge of nic Albanian rebels who tached Special Prosecu- ministration of justice. The
the war crimes of arbitrary the identities of thieves and wanted Kosovo's indepen- tor's Office, or SPO, was Specialist Prosecutor's Of-
detention, cruel treatment, spies, and beat him with dence from Serbia. Mus- established five years ago fice is investigating how the
torture of at least six people a baseball bat all over his tafa oversaw fighters in the to look into allegations association came into pos-
and the murder of one per- body, causing him severe Llapi area, 35 kilometers (20 that KLA members commit- session of the documents.
son at a detention com- mental harm and severe miles) north of the capital, ted war crimes and crimes Office spokesman Christo-
pound in Zllash, Kosovo, in physical injuries." Pristina. against humanity. pher Bennett said authori-
April 1999. The victims were The court said Mustafa was He later served as intelli- The European Union Rule ties were "vigorously investi-
accused by KLA fighters of transferred to its detention gence chief of the Kosovo of Law Mission in Kosovo, or gating and prosecuting in-
collaborating with Serbs or facilities in The Hague on Security Forces, military EULEX, which is in charge of dividuals who commit any
not supporting the KLA, ac- Thursday and will appear troops created in 2009 as a the court, said it had "pro- such crimes." q

Agency: No Cyprus passports for wealthy investors' families

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS for financial crimes.
Associated Press It said of the 635 applications still pending since May 2018, 91 should
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' top oversight body urged lawmakers have been already rejected because officials have found evidence
on Thursday to rethink new legislation that empowers the government of possible money laundering, forgery, fraud, tax evasion or bribery.
to grant citizenship to family members of wealthy investors under the Cyprus' Investment Program has come under renewed scrutiny follow-
country's lucrative "golden passport" program. ing new reports alleging that dozens of foreigners who each pledged
The Cyprus Audit Office said handing passports to investors' family up to 2.5 million euros ($2.9 million) to obtain citizenship had been ac-
members who haven't contributed "a single euro" to the Mediterra- cused of an assortment of crimes.
nean island nation's economy shortchanges state coffers. A separate probe by the Cyprus Security and Exchange Commission
The office said "thousands" of wealthy family members have been recommended this month that authorities revoke citizenship from sev-
granted citizenship since 2013, even though the law at the time didn't en individuals who submitted forged documents in their application.
give the government the authority to do so. That legal amendment The Cyprus government has conceded that "mistakes" were made
granting the government that authority was passed earlier this year. and has beefed up eligibility criteria in recent years. The most recent
The program has attracted many foreigner investors because a Cy- changes that lawmakers approved last month include new anti-mon-
prus passport automatically grants its holder citizenship access to the ey laundering vetting rules and making it easier to revoke the citizen-
entire 27-member European Union. Around 4,000 Cypriot passports ship of investors involved in or convicted of a serious crime.
have been issued to investors under the program, generating at least An independent committee has been set up to probe thousands of
7 billion euros ($8.15 billion). applications that were made since 2007. The investment program had
The Audit Office said three out of five cases that it examined raised gathered pace after 2013, when a financial crisis nearly brought Cy-
"reasonable suspicions" that the true applicant was the investor's prus to bankruptcy.
spouse, "so that perhaps the investor who is a high-risk individual is not Cyprus' Interior Ministry criticized the Audit Office of overstepping it's
asked to explain the source of his wealth." Two family members who purview with a "fragmentary" report that covers only a limited time
were granted passports didn't even meet eligibility criteria. frame. It said in a statement that it would wait for the findings of the
The report noted one applicant who was on an EU sanctions list and independent committee, which will decide whether all the rules were
another who was under investigation by Interpol in his home country applied and eligibility criteria met at each phase of the program.q