Pristina/The Hague - The United Nations war crimes tribunal Tuesday charged a top Kosovo journalist with contempt of court, alleging that he has revealed the identity of a protected witness, the UN said. The journalist, Baton Haxhiu, reportedly revealed the name of a witness testifying against Kosovo's former guerrilla commander, later prime minister Ramush Haradinaj.
Haxhiu, a former journalist and editor at Koha Ditore and the daily Express and a long-time contributor to Deutsche Welle, was arrested in Kosovo and was due to be transferred to The Hague-based tribunal.
Haradinaj was acquitted earlier this year by a panel of judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) owing to lack of evidence in a trial marred by witness intimidation.
Serbia, which has branded Haradinaj a terrorist who has tortured and murdered Serbs, described the verdict as a travesty of justice.
Haxhiu is the third Kosovo Albanian to be charged with contempt of court in the past month. All three incidents were related to the Haradinaj case, in which the prosecution appealed the verdict.
