Marty, EULEX discuss witness protection

29 January 2011 | 12:52 | Source: Blic

BELGRADE -- Council of Europe (CoE) Rapporteur Dick Marty is negotiating witness protection guarantees with EULEX, it has been confirmed. Dick Marty EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton’s Spokeswoman Maja Kocijančić has confirmed that the negotiations on witness protection are underway, daily Blic writes. “Contacts are underway. Marty is requesting guarantees for witnesses. I cannot reveal any more details,“ she was quoted as saying. EULEX started a preliminary investigation into organ trafficking in Kosovo yesterday. When asked how EULEX could guarantee that witnesses in the investigation would not end up like the witnesses in the case of Ramush Haradinaj, Kocijančić said that she was aware that there had been many problems in the Haradinaj case but that there had not been any problems since EULEX's mandate began in 2008. “We have full confidence in the witness protection program, the investigators hired by EULEX are from the [EU] member states, they are independent and they are working at the highest standards,“ she stressed. According to her, the EULEX's mandate is flexible and the EU is considering a possibility to adjust to new circumstances and it is ready to send reinforcement to its mission in Kosovo. “EULEX currently has about 20 investigators and 40 judges and we are ready to send more,“ Kocijančić pointed out. The daily writes that the EU will announce next week how many people it is prepared to send to Kosovo and whether Marty will be involved in the investigation.