This investigation will end”, former KLA chief defence request for the Special Prosecutor's Office

At the 8th status conference on former KLA leaders, the prosecution said it would respect the December 17th deadline to hand over the preliminary file, but added that it continues to have the same position in the investigation, stressing that “is our responsibility to continue our investigation mandate”.

Thaci's lawyer, Gregory Kehoe, said the SPS cannot make investigations in eternity.

We demand that this investigation be terminated. We demand that the investigation be completed. Handover of the preliminary file is the outcome or will they continue with investigations which we do not know how long it will last?

The preliminary file contains a summary of the evidence on each count, which the Specialised Prosecutor intends to present in connection with the conduct of the alleged criminal act.

The 8th status conference against former KLA leaders was held near The Hague on 15 December: Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

They are accused by the Special Prosecutor's Office of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

As for the investigation under defence, according to Wessel's lawyer, Ben Emmerson, they can begin only after they have accepted the preliminary file. Meanwhile, Thaci's defender said the investigations are being hampered by measures imposed against the pandemic, so he said the release of indictees from custody would make it easier to protect themselves from conducting investigations.

During the conference, the defence complained that the Specialised Prosecutor's Office (ZPS) is not respecting deadlines in terms of extracting materials, whether provative or excusing. Defence lawyers also received complaints about material related to witnesses whom the Prosecutor intends to invite to trial.

Lawyer Wessel, Ben Emmerson, said that so far the defence has received 13,800 evidence and more than 11,000 of them have been taken after the deadline for the release of this year's 23 July materials.

This volume always increases before the progress conference. How many other materials there are to be given so that we have an idea of how much to expect. Will they receive a large volume of materials in January?”, he asked.

I believe that we may need a lot of time in the next year, just to read a piece of material”, Vessel's defender said.

Selimi's lawyer, David Young, said the SPS is continuing to send material for witnesses, but is not showing which materials they belong to. So far, defence, he said, has accepted over 200 packages of materials for witnesses.

The defence of former KLA leaders complained that the ikegal system workflow), where the SPS shares its evidence with protection, is not functioning properly.

Lawyers of former KLA leaders also said that the Specialised Prosecutor's Office has decided not to use about 30,000 materials, which it originally said were provative materials, that lawyers could use to prepare protection for their clients.

The defence also complained of delays by the prosecution in extracting excusing materials.

“We know they have excusing materials, we know they have them from competent sources. When will this procedure come to an end because this is how the process is being postponed”, Thaci's lawyer, Gregory Kehoe, said.

Meanwhile, from the Special Prosecutor's Office announced they believe that by the time of January 31st next year to extract materials. Z The SP said that out of 11,300 materials, 545 have not yet been translated into Albanian. Also, this office said it is working on creating entities for protected witnesses. The defence welcomed the creation of entity or address books for witness information.

Thaci remains in custody

At the beginning of the conference, Thaci's lawyer, Gregory Kehoe, said that despite the court's decision to keep his client in custody today, the defence will appeal the verdict. But because of the holiday season, he demanded that appeals deadlines be delayed.

“From previous courts has been released Serbs and Albanians, but from this court, he said, adding they would respect the conditions of release from custody and demanded public hearings to address the reasons why defendants are held in custody for a year and for the dilemmas the Kosovo Prosecutor's Office has regarding the Kosovo Police, which would be responsible for the security of the defendants if they returned to Kosovo.

The status conference, or conference on the performance of the issue, calls the judge of the preliminary procedure, and it is aimed at organising exchanges between the sides. At this conference, the prosecution shows what kind of evidence you have.

What are former KLA leaders charged with?

Towards former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, former head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Kadri Veselin, former member of the KLA General Staff, Rexhep Selimi and former KLA spokeswoman Jakup Krasniqi burden charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Since November 2020 they have been in custody at The Hague and have been declared innocent of charges weighing on them.

According to the indictment, Thaci, Veselin, Krasniqi and Selimi are suspected of criminal acts involving war crimes: illegal or arbitrary bans, cruel treatment, torture and unlawful murder, and crimes against humanity: imprisonment, other inhumane acts, forced extinction of persons and persecution, which, according to the Special Chambers, were committed between March 1998 and September 1999.

The crimes allegedly were committed in several Kosovo locations and in northern Albania, in Kukes and Chahan respectively.

Specialised Chambers and Specialised Prosecutor's Office, also known as the Special Court, investigate the alleged crimes of members of the Kosovo Liberation Army committed against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.

These alleged crimes are mentioned in a 2011 Council of Europe report, author of which is Swiss senator Dick Marty. / REL