VZCZCXRO7892
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHPS #0706/01 2690815
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 260815Z SEP 07
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7721
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1291
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY
RHFMISS/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR TF FALCON PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000706 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR, EUR/SCE, DRL, INL, AND S/WCI, NSC FOR BRAUN, 
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER, OPDAT 
FOR ACKER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: KURTI TRIAL OPENS BEFORE PACKED COURTROOM, 
BUT QUICKLY RECESSES 
 
REF: A. PRISTINA 112 
     ¶B. PRISTINA 164 
     ¶C. PRISTINA 453 
 
Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  On September 19, Self-Determination Movement 
(SDM) leader Albin Kurti's trial began in a circus-like 
atmosphere before an international three-judge panel and a 
packed courtroom on charges stemming from his instigation of 
violence at the February 10 SDM demonstration that left two 
protesters dead.  After a shouting match between the 
presiding judge and Kurti on whether Kurti could read a 
rambling statement criticizing UNMIK and questioning the 
impartiality of the process, the judge ruled the statement 
irrelevant.  However, in an incomprehensible move, the judge 
agreed to consider a motion by Kurti to remove the 
three-judge panel altogether on the grounds that it had 
denied his freedom of speech.  The judge then sent the motion 
for decisioQo the Pristina District Court and recessed the 
trial indefinitely.  While Amcit prosecutor Eli Koppel 
(protect) told us he was confident he could convict Kurti, 
nothing UNMIK DOJ has done in the last eight months inspires 
deep confidence that a conviction will ensue.  We will 
continue to follow this case closely.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Kurti trial opens before a packed courtroom 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Vetevendosje/Self-Determination Movement (SDM) 
leader Albin Kurti's criminal trial commenced on September 19 
in Pristina District Court, before a packed courtroom of 
35-40 people and an international three-judge panel 
consisting of Mauricio Salustro (Italy, presiding), Norbert 
Koster and American citizen John Fields.  Much to everyone's 
surprise, the first order of business was the reading of a 
new indictment related to alleged criminal offenses Kurti 
committed during the February 10 demonstration (see para 6). 
Its reading caused some confusion, prompting defense attorney 
Ahmet Hasolli to ask whether the proceeding was the main 
trial or a confirmation hearing of the new indictment. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Once the confusion was cleared up and the main trial 
got underway, Kurti took the floor and asked to make a 
statement in Albanian.  He also provided an English 
translation (e-mailed to EUR/SCE), which he wanted the 
interpreter to read out loud.  Shortly after he started to 
speak, Presiding Judge Salustro interrupted him and asked him 
whether his oral statement would be the same as the written 
statement he provided in English.  Kurti defiantly asked 
Salustro not to interrupt him since he had not interrupted 
the judge.  Salustro ordered Kurti to "shut up," and the 
defense attorney jumped into the fray, asking the judge to 
let Kurti make his statement.  Salustro explained that it was 
the court's duty to ensure that Kurti's statement was 
relevant to the proceedings.  He then called a 10-minute 
recess, ordering everyone out of the room, so the three 
judges could review the written statement. 
 
Motion to dismiss judges results in recess 
 
¶4. (SBU) When the trial resumed, Salustro explained that 
Kurti's written statement was irrelevant and therefore could 
not be read during the trial.  Salustro also noted that 
Kurti's written statement contained "something about not 
accepting the judges," and asked if Kurti's objection was 
political in nature or if he indeed did not accept the three 
judges seated before him on technical grounds.  After a brief 
shouting match, during which Kurti complained of his freedom 
of speech being denied, Salustro asked Kurti whether he would 
object if there were three different judges sitting before 
him.  Kurti responded, "I object to you," and clarified that 
he would have to see the three different judges to decide 
whether to accept them.  Salustro threw up his hands and said 
that they must cease all activities and send the motion to 
the Pristina District Court because KurQwas in fact making 
a motion to dismiss the three-judge panel.  He called for a 
 
PRISTINA 00000706  002 OF 002 
 
 
recess, and just as he started to set a new date, Kurti's 
court-appointed lawyer piped up and informed him that he did 
not have the competency to do so under Kosovo law.  Salustro 
then recessed the trial indefinitely. 
 
Kurti's statement quickly spread around Pristina 
 
¶5. (SBU) As the crowd spilled out of the courtroom, Kurti's 
supporters passed out photocopies of his statement in 
Albanian and English.  It quickly spread throughout the 
Kosovo media that afternoon, likely grabbing more attention 
than it would have if he had read it in the courtroom.  In 
his statement, Kurti railed against the international judges 
and his own court-appointed attorney, questioning the judges' 
impartiality and complaining about the justice of UNMIK 
judging and prosecuting a case in which it also claims to be 
the victim of SDM's violent tactQ.  He accused local and 
international authorities of making defamatory public remarks 
about him and SDM, and quoted organizations like the German 
Institute for European Politics, which faulted UNMIK for 
creating a "'culture of systematic repression of criticism' 
in order to portray Kosovo as a success story." 
 
Prosecutor confident of case against Kurti, surprised by new 
indictment 
 
¶6. (C) During a break in the trial and in subsequent e-mail 
exchanges, Prosecutor Eli Koppel (protect) told USOP that he 
believes the case is strong against Kurti for instigating the 
violence on February 10 that left two protesters dead.  He 
stressed that no one is contesting the facts, and claimed he 
could make the case in two days, but will likely need five or 
six days "given that this is Kosovo."  While he will rely on 
a few reliable eyewitnesses, Koppel said the bulk of his case 
will rest on videotaped footage of the February 10 
demonstration.  He also told us that he did not file the new 
indictment and only saw it for the first time on September 
¶18.  (Note: The new indictment was filed on the 17th by the 
municipal public prosecutor's office under Article 316(3) of 
the Criminal Code, charging obstruction of official persons 
in the performance of their duties of maintaining public 
security.  Why the municipal public prosecutor's office would 
engage itself in this way is unclear, as is much else about 
the bizarre proceedings of this case.  End Note.) 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT:  UNMIK DOJ's handling of this case has varied 
from incomprehensible to appalling.  While we are glad to 
hear a US prosecutor expressing confidence, nothing that has 
happened in the last eight months -- from Kurti's "catch and 
release" detention to these latest farcical proceedings -- 
gives us any real encouragement that a conviction will ensue. 
 We will continue to follow the labyrinth course of these 
proceedings and push UNMIK DOJ to bring its case to court 
without further delay. 
KAIDANOW