Gucati, Haradinaj defence have deadlines until June 17th to appeal sentence

Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj were convicted on May 18th and sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison and fines in the amount of 100 euros, for criminal acts linked to obstructing justice administration, reports the “Justice Vowym”.

Apel's letter says Haradinaj has urgently called for clarification whether the starting point of reporting complaints according to the Order's 176 (2) is the proclamation of the act or its translation into Albanian.

According to the letter, in particular he indicated that on May 18, 2022, he was given a confirmed copy of the English - language act, a language he does not understand enough.

“This denies, according to Haradinaj, its ability to instruct the defender in appeal and negatively affects the justice of the procedure”, is said to be further.

The document also states that the panel emphasizes that, in accordance with the 176 (2) rule of Order, a party seeking to appeal a punishment act should submit an appeal statement, presenting appeals bases within 30 days of written judgment or sentence.

“further, in line with rule 72 (2) of the Order, any court established in contempt procedures, such as the current ones, can reduce the deadlines and take any other measure as the need to speed up the procedure, given the prosecution's right to the fair trial”, is said to be further.

According to Appeal, under the Rule 9 (3) of the rules, timelines begin from the first day of work after making a decision.

Furthermore, rule 8 (5) of the rules predicts that time restrictions will not last until a party or other participants who are required to take action have taken action from the secretary to translate a document into one of the working languages, where such a document is presented in different languages from one of the working languages”, the document says.

On the other hand, it is pointed out that in the concrete case, the bias has been issued in the English language, which has been defined as the language of the procedure.

“Panelli further notes that while according to rule 159 (4) of the Order a confirmed copy of the judge's bias and opinions where it is applicable, the accused will be given as soon as possible in a language that he or she understands and speaks, taking this translation does not relate to the beginning of the corresponding timetable under Rule 176 (2) of the rules. Hence, the panel considers that, under the rules, the timetable for submitting complaints reports begins on the first day of work after the release of the bias in the language of the agreed to”, the letter says.

In college's opinion, lawyers are now able to discuss the content of the indictment with the accused and advise him on possible reasons for the complaint.

“Colegy notes in this regard that in cases prior to international criminal courts where the judgments were issued in a language which the accused did not understand, it was generally not guaranteed the length of the time for reporting the complaint when the defender of the convicted person could work in the language in which the verdict has been pronounced”, the document states.

It says that while the panel recognises the importance of the accused's right to take the bias in a language he understands, it considers that the justice of the procedure at this stage will not be negatively affected by the non-disabilities of such a translation.

“So, the panel finds that the parties should present their appeals reports, if there are, within the timetable set with the Rule 176 (2) of the Orders, until Friday, June 17, 2022”, says Appealy.

Otherwise, Hysni Gucati, along with Nasim Haradinaj, was charged with criminal acts against justice administration, namely for obstructing official persons in performing official duties, fearing witnesses, taking revenge and violating the secret of the procedure.

The “The charges presented in the confirmed indictment rely on well-based suspicion that at least between 7 September and 25, 2020, Mr. Gucati and Mr. Haradinaj uncovered without authorisation protected information from the Specialised Chambers Law, among which identifying data of several (possibly) witnesses, in three press conferences and other broadcast activities, as well as further distribution involving statements on social networks”, it was said in the announcement of the Specialised Chambers.

Gucati and Haradinaj were charged with making derogatory remarks against potential witnesses and repeatedly expressed their intention to undermine the work of the Specialised Chambers.

With these actions, Mr. Gucati and Mr. Haradinaj violated the secret of the procedure and feared witnesses (possibly) of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office and subsequently prevented the work and investigations of SPS”, the Kosovo Specialised Chambers announced.