Lajci case remains public in Specialised Chamber

The Specialised Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in The Hague on Wednesday has rejected the request of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office, that the request for a review of constitutionality, on the case of the interview procedure of Driton Lajci, the government's law protection director of potential indictees From the Specialised Chambers to be classified by public documents in reliable documents.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith considers publishing information from that request can affect the integrity and credibility of the investigation.

Against the new classification, from a public document to reliable documents, it was Lajci himself.

Radio Free Europe on 15 November has written that The Hague's Specialised Prosecutor's Office is investigating the role of the Government's Office for Legal Protection of potential indictees from Specialised Chambers, as well as for the office's director, Driton Lajci.

The investigation is being conducted due to possible obstruction of justice, including the claim of violating Kosovo Criminal Code provisions, which have to do with preventing official evidence or procedures, as well as intimidation during the development of the procedure.

As reportedly, Lajci, who was interviewed in The Hague on October 17th, has been quietly protected because, as he has said, he has not been publicly informed of what specific criminal act he is referring to, the basis of evidence for allegedly committing criminal acts, while the specific claims have not even been reported during the interview.

His lawyer, Toby Cadman, has confirmed to Radio Free Europe that in the Specialised Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo at The Hague, he has submitted the request for assessing the constitutionality of the interview procedure, which is also part of the public documentation.

That request in which Radio Free Europe had access, November 14th, for hours was published on the Specialized Chamber website and then gone.

Specialised Chambers have confirmed that the request could be withdrawn from the website, if there are concerns on the parties, and after review by the competent Chamber, it could still be published or classified as reliable.

In fact, chief prosecutor Jack Smith, on November 18th, has requested from the Specialised Chamber under The Hague's Constitutional Court, to classify the document again as reliable and in order to protect the credibility and integrity of the ongoing investigation.

He added that at the request, there are information that should not have been made public in this period, as are the content of the e-mail, which the prosecutor sent to Lajci, that there is an investigation into the Government Office and Lajci himself, due to the obstruction of the investigation and violation of the Kosovo Criminal Code articles regarding preventing evidence, official documents and intimidation during the procedure; that the prosecutor during Lajci's interview, with his whole decision to be protected by silence, has asked Lajci whether this decision is based on freedom from himself and others.

“Reclassified request is guarantee, given that publishing these information can affect the integrity, security and credibility of the investigation of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office”, it says. query: The attorney Jack Smith.

Meanwhile, Lajci, in response to the prosecutor's request, has asked the Constitutional Court Chamber with headquarters in The Hague to reject the prosecutor's request and to make his request public document, as the Chamber, in fact has established and Lajci's document. It's public again.

The reasons for the decision will be published later, while the court consisted of judges Vidar Stansland, Roland Dekkers and Antonio Balsamo.

The Kosovo Constitutional Court's Specialised Chamber at The Hague is the latest insistence, which interprets the Constitution on questions related to the work of Specialised Chambers and the Specialised Prosecutor's Office.

The crimes against law enforcement, or crimes committed during judicial processes, such as the destruction of evidence, the intimidation of witnesses and others, are among the areas over which the Special Court has competencies, including crimes against humanity, war crimes and other criminal acts, according to Kosovo laws, which are related to claims by the Swiss eurodeputs report Dick Marty in 2011.