The re-trial of the case against former Kosovo prime minister and former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) Ramus Haradinaj at the of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will start on Thursday.

Prosecution and defense will give opening statements on Thursday and the process will begin with presentation of evidence on Friday.

The pre-trial conference will be held on Wednesday.

Along with members of the KLA Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, Haradinaj was indicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war in Kosovo in 1998, on the basis of individual criminal responsibility.

Haradinaj and Balaj were initially acquitted of all 37 counts on April 3, 2008 while Brahimaj, who served briefly as deputy commander of the KLA forces in the “Dukagjin Operational Zone” in western Kosovo, was sentenced to six years in prison.

In the introduction of the judgment, the ICTY Trial Chamber stressed it had had difficulty obtaining the testimony of witnesses as many of them had cited fear as a reason for failure to appear in court.

July last year, the ICTY Appeals Chamber overturned the acquittal of Baljaj and Haradinaj, arguing that the initial trial was plagued with intimidation of witnesses. It upheld the judgment against Brahimaj and ordered a partial re-trial on six counts of the indictment.

The indictment stated the three men were accomplices of the joint criminal enterprise whose purpose was to establish total control over the KLA “Dukagjin Operational Zone” by removing from the region all Serbs, Kosovo Albanians, Roma, Egyptians and other civilians who were suspected of cooperating with Serbian forces or of not supporting the KLA.

The prosecution has to prove that the KLA forces under Haradinaj's command, including a special unit known as the “Black Eagles”, which was under the direct command of Baljaj, harassed and beat Serb and Roma civilians in the area between the village of Decani and Glodjane and killed those who refused to leave their homes.