CoE rapporteur Dick Marty has stated that Switzerland has known for years about outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci's alleged involvement in drug and organ trafficking and even banned him from entering the country.

One does not do that to respectable persons, Marty stated for the NZZ am Sonntag, a Swiss weekly. Taci's name can be found in police records, said Marty, whose report accuses the international community of knowing about the crimes but not doing anything about it for political reasons. Referring to the data protection, the Swiss Federal Migration Office and Federal Police did not wish to comment on Taci's ban on entry. However, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Switzerland denied visa to Taci, who at the time was president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, a party which derived from Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the paper reads.

Numerous Kosovo rebels lived in Switzerland during the ninetees. Taci also studied in Zurich, before he became KLA political leader. Switzerland was of strategic importance for KLA. This is where the organization recruited members and handled the financing of the resistance, the paper reads, adding that about 200,000 people from Kosovo live in Switzerland today.

Owing to his efforts in the fight for Kosovo's independence, Taci became an important political figure, which earned him persecution by a certain state. This is why a decision was made that he be denied a visa, the directorate's statement reads, adding that the Swiss authorities did not want Taci in the country as he was wanted by Serbia for war crimes.

During the debate on Kosovo's recognition in 2008, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey did not inform the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council on Taci's ban on entry, the then committee chairman Gary Miller stated.

However, it was common knowledge that charges had already been brought against several members of the Kosovo government, Miller added. It was clear that recognition was required for a state whose political figures had a very vague war history, said Miller, who opposed Kosovo's recognition.

Marty claims that the alleged mafia network around Taci took over the control of the money that KLA received from the Kosovo diaspora.The money was deposited into accounts in Swiss and German banks.President of the Foreign Affairs Committee Christa Markwalder seeks a clarification of the accusations according to which the money from drug and organ trafficking was paid into accounts in Switzerland.

If the allegations are confirmed, the state prosecution must react, she underlined.

The serious accusations that Marty made, particularly against Taci, will be discussed by the Foreign Affairs Committee at its next session on January 10-11, when Minister Calmy-Ray will have to provide some answers as well, the Swiss paper reads.