Thaci's defence: If there was a criminal plan, KLA would have the support of international community

Avotic Gregory Kehoe, in the 82-page file, has called the Special Court's presentation consistent with historical events in Kosovo.

“Thaci was arrested 24 months ago and all calls for provisional release have been denied. The SPO has filed a case that has no link to the charges of organ trafficking that the Court was set up to investigate and prosecute and that has in its centre a selective and simplified presentation of historical events”- is said in the letter.

Thaci's defence has argued that if there was a criminal plan, The KLA would not enjoy the support of the international community.

“If the KLA had acted on a criminal plan for the murder, torture and abuse of civilians, it would never have had US, Great Britain, NATO, the OSCE, Contact Group, or the wider international community” said in the file.

The defence has further opposed the Special Prosecutor's Office, alluding that it is based on a misinterpretation and selection of events.

Independent Kosovo is no longer the result of a war, supported by international allies, for freedom from the Presidential and brutal Serbian regime. Instead, according to the SPS, Kosovo's citizenship is the result of a complex and broad criminal plan to gain and exercise control over all Kosovo through the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes, under the watchful eye of these same international allies” -- attorney Gregory Kehoe has said.

The defence recalls that it is now clear that many of the documents in which the Specialised Prosecutor's Office is based came from Serbian government bodies.

According to Gregory Kehoe, there are the same organs that have a particular interest in the outcome of these procedures, which even tried to kill Dick Marty, with the aim of blaming Kosovo Albanians.

Gregory Kehoe further argued that Thaci and other KLA members had no policy to commit crimes against opponents.

“Like all military and security structures, even newborns like the KLA, preserving internal security from threatening those within Serbian secret services, or working with Serbian authorities, was a concern for the entire KLA. As in all armed conflicts historically, there was an effort to prevent the infiltrate of those who were aiming to harm the KLA and its members, but there was no policy to subject them to war crimes or crimes against humanity through a widespread and systematic attack”- the defence says.

The file explains that the ZPS prosecution included “members of the KLA” and other “KLA soldiers” as members of the NKP who have been rejected.

“Consistent with this broad formulation is demonstrated by SPS's own testimony to “KLA membership”, which often means nothing more than signing, or self-explaring loyalty. The SPS case depends on these thousands of people who voluntarily joined the KLA, being at the same time part of the same common criminal goal. He completely ignores the chaotic and raging reality on the ground: tens of thousands of Kosovo citizens who rise against a campaign of Serbian brutality and depression, at a pace that exceeded any efforts to organise, regulate or even act in co-ordination with known KLA groups” -- is said by the defence.

The lawyer's file also reportedly lacks SPS dirative for displaced Albanians.

According to Kehoe, the removal of 863 thousand Albanians from Serbian forces was presented as a movement of KLA soldiers.

The most frightening “is the SPS decision to present the case in a contextal vacuum; a history of events with deleted history. Z The SP bypasses decades of persecution of Kosovo Albanians, which culminated in a very co-ordinated plan by the Serbian state to remove the ethnic Albanian population from Kosovo. Civil resistance to the brutal Serbian ethnic cleansing campaign is not presented by the SPS as a battle for survival, but as a criminal plan of KLA to take and retain power. Kosovo Albanians fled 83,000 to save their lives in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, while being targeted by Serb forces aimed at their departure. Another 590,000 people moved in. This is presented by the SPS as “movement” of KLA soldiers and a large number of Albanian civilians in areas where the KLA had already created objects and personnel” - has stated among other things Thaci's defence.

The complete file published by the Special Court in The Hague can be found in this LINK.

Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi are being held in custody in The Hague since November 2020.

So far, the Court has rejected any request for freedom for the former UCK leaders.

They are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity as persecution, imprisonment, inhumane acts, torture, extinction and murder, as well as 4 war crimes points such as arrest, arbitrary detention, torture and unlawful murder.

The Specialised Prosecutor's Office, on September 30th, has handed over the confirmed amended indictment against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselin, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, which consists of ten points of charges, where they are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Act consists of ten points on which the accused are being charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The indictment claims that Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi knew or knew of the crimes they were ready to commit or were committed by their subordinates.

The prosecution further claims that the accused have not taken necessary and reasonable measures to prevent such crimes or punish perpetrators.

According to the indictment Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi are responsible for crimes committed by their subordinates.

“Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi individually criminalised responsibility for: Point 1: Persecution on political and/or ethnic grounds, crime against humanity. Points 2: imprisonment, crime against humanity. About 3 points of arrest and illegal or arbitrary detention, war crime” stated in the indictment.

In the meantime, at 4th point, they are charged with other inhumane acts, a crime against mankind. And at 5th point for cruel treatment, war crime.

At 6th point, they are charged with torture, crime against humanity. Point 7: torture, war crime. Point 8: murder, crime against humanity, Point 9: murder, war crime. Point 10: Forced human extinction, crime against humanity.

Other names such as Sylejman Selimi, Fatmir Limaj, Sabit Geci, Lahi Brahimaj, Rrustem Mustafa, Latif Gashi and Shukri Buya are mentioned in this indictment

The Actakuz says that as the commander of the zones along with other KLA members, they have banned persons for different periods of time illegally.

Those arrested according to the Prosecution have been chained and kept in closed rooms with armed guards.

Further, the indictment describes that those arrested have been subjected to severe beatings and psychological abuses

The Special Court released the version of the amended indictment on September 30, 2022 on her website.