Daughter of slain war crimes "witness" dies in Kosovo town

Daughter of slain war crimes "witness" dies in Kosovo town

The driver, Amir Salihu, was arrested after the incident.

Prisina-based Albanian language daily Bota Sot is linking both deaths to Blerinda Curri's father, Bedri Curri, and his reported intent to testify about the crimes the KLA committed against its political opponents.

When Bedri Curri was killed with a shot to the head, the media in Kosovo connected the "mysterious" murder to the victim's alleged desire to testify before the newly set up special ("specialist") court for KLA crimes.

Curri was also "ready to testify about the capturing and liquidations of Yugoslav Army (VJ) soldiers during the war in Kosovo" - a crime he allegedly participated in, while, according to this, the order to kill the soldiers came from Ajvaz Berisha, aka "Commander Tiger."

The problem of witness protection is one of the key challenges that will be faced by the specialist court, considering that a slew of potential witnesses in the cases against Ramush Haradinaj and Fatmir Limaj either "disappeared" or decided against testifying "under mysterious circumstances."

In their reports to the UN Security Council, former and current chief Hague prosecutors Carla Del Ponte and Serge Brammertz on several occasions in the past warned about the threats faced by witnesses, and did so "unsuccessfully," RTS said.