Witness hearing begins tomorrow in Thaci case and others

The hearings will continue on Wednesday and Thursday, where during these days the hearing of the first witnesses is envisioned.

All these sessions are expected to begin at 9:30, but will be broadcast by 45 minutes late for the public.

We remember that last week the trial began against former KLA leaders in The Hague, where opening statements were held, since Thaci and others, through their speeches and defensive parties, again declared their innocence.

Former KLA leaders occurred in The Hague for more than two years under charges of crimes against humanity.

What are Thaci and the others accused of?

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 initial indictment, Thaci, Veselin, Krasniqi and Selimi are suspected of criminal acts dealing with 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 Specialised Chambers, were committed between March 1998 and September 1999.

The crimes allegedly were committed in several Kosovo locations and in northern Albania.

On May 10th, the Specialised Prosecutor has presented three categories of changes in the indictment against Thaci and other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

According to the amended version of the indictment, in the villages of Budakova and Semtish in Suhareka, it is suspected that between June 4th 1998 and September 1998, at least 12 persons were detained at the detention centre.

Also, in the indictment it is said that at the end of June and early July 1999, KLA participants detained at least three persons without regular legal process in a KLA headquarters located in a former school building and dormitory at Gjilan”.

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.