By Björn Elberling

Last Friday, ICTY Trial Chamber I unsealed an indictment for contempt of court against Astrit Haraqija, former Kosovo Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport, and Bajrush Morina, a political advisor at the Ministry. The Indictment had already been brought on 8 January 2008, but had been kept under seal until last week – probably to be unsealed after arrest of the two accused. Their initial appearance is scheduled for tomorrow. The indictment alleges that on Haraqija’s instructions, Morina met with "PW", a protected prosecution witness in the case against former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and others, and unsuccesfully tried to pressure him/her into not giving evidence. As most readers will know, Haradinaj (pictured above) and one of his two co-accused were acquitted by the Trial Chamber on 3 April. The judgment notes that many potential Prosecution witnesses were afraid for their safety; several witnesses refused to testify and/or only agreed to testify after contempt proceedings had been instituted against them (see para. 22 et seq. of the Judgment) Interestingly, the Indictment against Haraqija and Morina contains a statement which seems to say that the two could only have gained knowledge of "PW"s identity through the defendants and/or their counsel (see para. 6 and 7 of the Indictment). The Prosecution has stated that it was considering appealing the judgment against Haradinaj et al, it has until 3 May to do so. It will be interesting to see how things develop further in this case. [UPDATE: The Prosecution has today stated that it will appeal the Haradinaj et al judgment. More information once the appeal is filed.]