| Swiss FM changes mind about "Kosovo award" 17 December 2010 | 20:00 -> 21:12 | Source: B92 BERN -- Switzerland has called on "Kosovo and the international community" to launch a legal investigation into the Kosovo organ trafficking case. "The Swiss Foreign Ministry calls on the affected countries and particularly Kosovo for clarification on these accusations. The appropriate and international authorities must lead legal steps to assemble potential evidence," the AFP quoted the ministry's statement. The ministry also called on the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, "to drive investigation". Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty's report named Kosovo Albanian PM Hashim Thaci as one of those responsible for the 1999 and 2000 kidnappings of Serb and other civilians in Kosovo, and the trade in organs extracted from them in northern Albania. Thaci denied these accusations, while his associates announced they would file a lawsuit against Marty. The Swiss foreign ministry noted that Marty's report contained "grave accusations made on the basis of countless witness accounts and evidence." Swiss officials also announced that there were no investigations in that country against Thaci or his KLA Drenca Group, or into the bank accounts believed to have been used in the organ trade. The Swiss Ministry of Justice also said that there was no request from Serbia "for legal cooperation". AFP also reports that "the ministry also said that Swiss President and Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, who was to receive an award next week from the Kosovo diaspora in Switzerland, has decided not to pick up the award at the moment." "Given the publication of Marty's report, it is not the right time to pick up this prize," the ministry explained. |
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