So much money has been spent so far by the state of Kosovo for guests from the Special Court

Over 600,000 euros have been spent from Kosovo's budget to cover the expenses of some of the persons interviewed by the Specialised Prosecutor who operates under the Special Chambers, known as The Hague Special Court.

This has been confirmed by the Ministry of Justice by a written answer.

We inform you that the budget spent so far on judicial protection and financial support of accused persons, suspects or involved in any form of judicial processes near specialised rooms is as follows: According to Government decision no. 14/94 of the date 19.3.2019, has been spent on the amount of 40,000.00. According to Government decision no. 10/88 of the 05.02,2019 date has been spent on the value of $30,000.00. A total of 9,187.00, according to decision no. 10/88 on the date 05.02.2019, paragraph 3 points 3.1 have returned the means to the budget of the Republic of Kosovo”, the justice ministry's response reported.

The ministry has announced that, for 2020, around 20m euros from Kosovo's budget have been earmarked for judicial protection and financial support of persons charged with potential in judicial processes in The Hague.

“Budget divided for financial support to accused persons, suspected or involved potential for 2020 through Law No. 07/L-014 for Change and Fulfillment of Law No. 07/ L-001 on budgetary divisions for the Republic of Kosovo budget have envisioned the sharing of tools worth 7m euros, and the value of 13m euros is divided into accounts of the Ministry of Finance and Transfers, in order for the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to be willing to meet the legal obligations envisioned with Law No. 05L-54”, said the MD's response.

But, Commission Chairman for Board and Transfer, Hekuran Murati, says the amount allocated to the potential indictees of the Special Court is high.

“I haven't been of reconciliation because it's been a great unreasonable amount for a very short time. We have been following much larger demands for pandemic”, Murati said, objectiv reports.

On the basis of the Law on Jury and Financial Protection of Persons who may be charged by the Special Court, adopted by the Kosovo Assembly, people have the right to request assistance in covering defence spending and the commitment of independent defenders.

Meanwhile, the Special Court, headquartered at The Hague, has also made public the defence attorneys' lists for the accused.

The names of 179 defense attorneys are on the list, and among them are the names of defense lawyers of alleged victims.