Ends hearings at The Hague, Trial of Gucat, Haradinaj to continue on January 11th

The defence statement was prepared by the team's leader, Toby Cadman, but because of its infection with Ovid-19, he was not present in the courtroom.

The statement has been read by another lawyer, where, among other things, it has been said, evidence which will be presented in Haradinaj's name will testify that he has made no threats against protected witnesses or victims.

“Each of the documents said to have been issued in this case and making up part of the case have emerged from the Special Prosecutor's Office, defendants have not received these documents, in fact at his opening, the specialised prosecutor confirmed for the first time that the documents had been stolen and confirmed further that the defendants were not responsible. This suggests that the SPS has had inadequate security measures, and this is one of the issues that lies at its core. There are also open issues how documents ended up in OVL- KLA, if the documents are true, these are issues the court must face”, the lawyer said until he read the opening statement.

The statement has raised the question of why Hysni Gucati's Nasim Haradinaj is charged, while many other people who have done the same with documents are not allegedly committing any crimes.

“A is not in the public's interest to know that SPS is engaged with people who are subject to Interpol, Mr. Haradinaj says yes, but except that he says it is a matter of such public interest and must be understood what happened and that the people of Kosovo deserve to know... At no stage have any media been asked to remove the articles, and at any certain stage these media have not become the object of any control, there are actually journalists we know they still have copies of these documents. As a result, the question has to be asked is why we have two indictees in front of you today while others have done the same and are not supposed to have committed any crime and while the situation is this”, he said.

In the opening statement, the defence was said to have never prevented Haradinaj from working the Specialised Prosecutor's Office.

“Proves, which will be called on behalf of Mr. Haradinaj, will demonstrate that no threats have been made against protected witnesses or victims of any crime and there has been no intention of such individuals being labeled, but in fact Mr Haradinaj has stressed what happened and has drawn attention by acting in line with his civil duty. Meanwhile, the SPS tends to use words such as liars or traitors to strengthen its baseless claims, however, to understand Mr. Haradinaj's comments in its entirety rather than select certain segments. So it's important to understand his words overall and therefore these people are directed, and these are persons wanted by Interpol and Kosovo authorities”, it was said in the opening statement of defence.

In the statement it is said that Nasim Haradinaj is not guilty of any of the provisions of the indictment.

The trial against former heads of the KLA War Veterans Organisation will continue in January.

The court has approved Haradinaj's defence request for the postponement of the trial and has ordered the presentation of evidence in the Haradinaj case to begin on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022.

Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj were arrested on 25 September 2020, since they are even staying in custody at The Hague.

The flow of documents from the Special, which by a still unknown person have been sent to O'O offices VL- The KLA, and publicisation of this event by the leaders of the organisation, is the reason Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj are being tried.

On them are charges of criminal acts against administration of justice, namely obstructing official persons in performing official duties, fearing witnesses, revenge, and violating the secret of the procedure.