Kosovo’s Justice System is Under Siege
A ghost account, a fabricated leak, and a desperate power play. They wanted me in their web. I refused. Now, the real game begins.
For years, I was vaguely aware of the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO), but never did I allow myself to take a deeper interest. The American, European and British newsrooms I worked with had little focus on it, and when they did, the stories were assigned to journalists well-versed in its complexities. Knowing the intricacies of international war crimes investigations, I hesitated to immerse myself in a subject fraught with legal, political, and historical entanglements. But one thing remained clear to me: justice must prevail, regardless of who stands accused.
This year, however, something changed. A development so striking, so unexpected, pulled my attention into its orbit. Before diving into that, it is crucial to first unravel what the Special Prosecutor’s Office is and why it stands at the center of one of Kosovo’s most consequential battles over justice.
The SPO was established in 2015 following a damning Council of Europe report detailing allegations of war crimes committed by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during and after the 1998–99 Kosovo War. The tribunal’s mandate is to investigate and prosecute serious crimes, including political assassinations, illegal detentions, and even allegations of organ trafficking. Unlike Kosovo’s domestic judiciary, the SPO operates with international judges and prosecutors, an effort to insulate it from the political pressures that have long plagued war crimes trials in the Balkans.
Yet, from its inception, the tribunal has been a lightning rod for controversy. To its supporters, it represents a necessary, if painful, step toward accountability. To its critics, it is a tool of selective justice, one that targets former KLA commanders while turning a blind eye to Serbian war crimes. The tribunal has become entangled in a broader struggle, not just between justice and impunity, but between competing political forces seeking to shape Kosovo’s postwar narrative.
In recent years, a coordinated effort has emerged to discredit, obstruct, and ultimately dismantle the SPO. A network of political operatives, media figures, and individuals with intelligence ties has mobilised to undermine the tribunal, their motives spanning from self-preservation to larger geopolitical interests. The pushback is not confined to Kosovo alone; it has drawn in international actors with stakes in the country’s stability, sovereignty, and unfinished postwar reckoning.
What follows is a week’s worth of investigative reporting that unpacks this effort, who is behind it, the methods they use, and why dismantling Kosovo’s war crimes tribunal has become a priority for those looking to rewrite history or evade accountability.