End of the trial in The Hague against former KLA leaders – the prosecution has 8 more sessions left

The list of hundreds of witnesses in the trial of former KLA leaders at the Specialist Chambers for Kosovo is nearing completion.

Until April 4, when it is the last day for the Specialist Prosecutor's Office to present all evidence, according to the calendar of the Specialist Chambers for Kosovo, 8 more sessions are scheduled to be held.

In the last conference on the progress of the case, the prosecution announced that they had only managed to confirm one witness, and did not indicate whether they had managed to secure others.

"You have correctly identified the number of days of the trial. The information you are requesting is not public."

For the lawyer accredited by the Special Court, Taulant Hodaj, the end of the term for the prosecution may also bring about a change in the security measure for the accused, who have been in detention since 2020.

"After the prosecution witnesses are examined, the parties have a reasonable basis on which they can request the court to make another decision on the security measure of pre-trial detention, until the trial is conducted, because one of the reasons they are in pre-trial detention is due to the influence on the prosecution witnesses," said Hodaj.

And, Amer Aliaj from the Humanitarian Law Center, tells about the further procedure of this process.

"After April 4, the defense has the right to file several motions to challenge the charges. After that, the prosecution has 10 days to respond to these motions, and based on these motions, the court makes a decision on whether to dismiss any charges. According to the rules of evidence, the other party that has the right to call witnesses is the injured party... and then it's the defense's turn...", said Aliaj.

But, according to former advisor to former President Hashim Thaçi, who was also involved in the defense team, this trial is political and unfair.

"We have a protracted and political process that has been accompanied by injustice, which has been accompanied by denigration, which has been accompanied by decisions that are unheard of in international law, and I think that there are still a few months left before the release of the KLA leaders, because so far the prosecution has not managed to prove the charges it has placed in the indictment at any point," said Artan Behrami.

Since April 2023, when the trial against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selim began, 123 witnesses have been heard in court, and many other testimonies have been submitted in written form.

Former KLA leaders are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. /Dukagjin/