Peter Shala's special case: Court orders Prosecution to hand over the file by November 19th

At today's conference on the performance of the issue of former Kosovo Liberation Army commander (UÇK), Peter Shala, who is accused of alleged war crimes by the prosecution specialising in The Hague, the judge of the preliminary procedure, Nicolas Guillou, has ordered the Specialised Prosecutor's Office by November 19th to hand over the pretrial file and other materials of this case.

The judge said that in written statements, sir. The SP has stated that there are still some investigative steps to take, but that, according to the prosecution, does not affect the deadlines for extracting materials.

“think before the end of the material extraction deadline, July 30th, if we can't call you”, the prosecutor said when he was asked by the judge for term completion of the investigative steps.

In his order, Prosecution Judge Nicolas Guillou has asked the prosecution to hand over the file according to the 954A regulation rule until November 19th, 2021.

“The SPS predicts that it will be able to hand over the preliminary file and materials linked to it by November 19th, 2021”, he has said.

While the defence has stated they expect to receive important materials, for which it said we will inform more at the next conference on the performance of the issue.

“For the next item to extract materials from SPS under the 102 b rule, is July 30, 2021. We think that we will get important materials that will enable us to understand the evidence and materials that will be used in the trial. So we think that I'm sure that things will go without any problems, we think we'll be in a better position to inform you, Mr. Judge at other conferences of running the”, attorney Jean-Louis Gillissen said.

At today's conference held in The Hague, the judge of the preliminary procedure has ordered defence to hand over the preliminary motion by 12 July this year, until it has announced the deadline until the prosecution can respond.

“Orders Mr. Shala's defense to file the preliminary motion no later than July 12, 2021, sir. The SP to respond no later than Friday's 13th August 2021, and defence to hand in response no later than August 30, 2021, Monday's 11x1>, the judge said.

The defence has demanded that the next conference on performance and issues be held in September, which parties have agreed to.

We propose that in September there will be a conference on the progress of the issue, but to keep in mind the deadlines and elements that are expected from us to do during this period. In September we will also need to disclose the materials we want to see from the SPS list the deadline for doing so is September 17th, 2021. September will be somewhat in charge of”, defence said.

At the summit conference, it was also announced by the administration that due to improved the situation with Covid-19, the relatives of the accused who have so far contacted only via the online zoo can meet them physically from July 15th.

Shala, who wasn't present in the hall, attended the conference via video connection.

He was arrested on 16 March 2021 by Belgian authorities and transferred to The Hague on 15 April this year, on a request for co-operation in the implementation of the warrant and the command for transfer issued by Kosovo's Specialised Chambers to The Hague.