The Tirana Court has remanded former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighter Dritan Goxhaj in custody.
Defense attorney Bashkim Nikolla had requested his immediate release, arguing that the 40-day deadline had passed, but the court rejected the request, stating that it was unsupported by law and evidence.
Among other things, the attorney claims that there has been no extradition request from the requesting state.
Dritan Goxhaj was arrested on July 31, 2023, on an arrest warrant issued by the Special Court of Kosovo for the purpose of extradition to The Hague.
The former KLA fighter is accused of revealing the names of witnesses in several cases previously opened by the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo.
Goxhaj is suspected of committing criminal acts of obstructing the work of officials and intimidating witnesses under the Penal Code of the Republic of Kosovo.
This was the first time that the Special Court has carried out an arrest on the territory of Albania.
Goxhaj had been accompanying American troops during the Kosovo war in 1998-99. He had joined the KLA as an officer of the Albanian Army and was authorized by the General Staff to liaise with the American forces’ command in Albania.
He is the son of soldier Dilaver Goxhaj, who voluntarily joined the KLA upon the request of the KLA General Staff, when he was entrusted with the role of Deputy Chief of the KLA General Staff, and, with NATO’s engagement in the war, he was tasked with the role of NATO liaison officer.
In 2015, the Kosovo Assembly passed the Law on the Special Court, which operates under Kosovo law but on the territory of the Netherlands. Foreign prosecutors and judges work in this institution.
The Special Chambers and the Office of the Special Prosecutor investigate alleged crimes by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.
Currently, several court cases are being conducted at the Special Chambers, including the case against former KLA leaders – Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi – who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
