Court refuses as evidence a video the prosecution said was a KLA oath-taking ceremony

At the Special Court in The Hague, the process is continuing against former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders, with the hearing of the sixteenth witness from the Specialised Prosecutor's Office. He is testifying under protective measures for the 1998 period and around the Lapusnik area, which he has said was Fatmir Limaj, the top commander.

At the beginning of the interrogation, the Specialised Prosecutor's Office has presented a video about which prosecutor Matt Halling has said is a KLA oath ceremony.

He has demanded that the same be accepted as material evidence, but he has been rejected by the court because the oath was not seen there.

Regarding this video, Thaci's defense has reacted, lawyer Gregory Kehoe, who has said there is no basis for showing this video since the witness in the courtroom was no part of it.

Witness: The first (in video) is the most mustache Muse Jashari, the second is Fatmir Limaj, the third is Kumanovo-Ismet Jashari.

Procuring Halling: These were the three people present at the oath ceremony discussed at the private hearing? Honored judges, in view of the witness's identification and given that he has been temporarily accepted as accompanying material proof for another witness, we feel that it is appropriate to accept this as material evidence.

Lawyer Kehoe: You want to take a statement record where there's no concrete oath, say it's the same, but it's not the same, the prosecution says another witness can verify this, okay when this witness comes, but this video has nothing to do with this witness except that Uncle Jashar, Family Limaj, has been present there, and Ismet Jashar. And you're showing what the NLA vow ceremonies look like that were very effective, but the oath doesn't exist.

Judge Smith: Admittedly, there is no connection in this video to tell us about the concrete oath there. This video is useless.

After that, the prosecutor said there'd be another witness talking about this video.

He has continued with questions about the command structure in the Lapusnik area.

The witness has said the main commander was Fatmir Limaj.

While he has said he was part of the Democratic League of Kosovo, the witness has said that in the 1998 period, there were statements that LDK members should not be accepted in the KLA.

And one time after we went to Lapusnik, they started declaring some soldiers out of uniform, they were just, they didn't know Rugova, they said we had caught the scarf, I didn't know who the scarf is, but we were in order to fight with Serb forces, then I realized that it was Rugova, their obstacle was Rugova. We were part of the LDK until very late after the war, then a kind of pressure we've had was also this motive, the LDK people why they've been locked in the KLA, thought these people who were at first that only these people should lead the war and only they should own Kosovo, so something”, he said.

According to the witness, it was then said that LDK members are not reliable.

Hashim Thaci's defence has sought to show who had made such statements, but cautioned that questions about it should be asked at the private hearing.

Halling has asked the witness if it was KLA command that spread such messages.

I think that the KLA has certainly been unable to speak to anyone, most of the fighters were in LDK, then there was opposition here, it's obviously, their action, their behavior towards the people of LDK, is clearly seen as having had objections to saying no this does not go on, should be interrupted, not with LDK, had to declare them<1>, he said.

Afterwards, Kadri Wessel's lawyer, Ben Emmerson, has asked general questions to be asked at the public hearing and then to continue with other questions at private hearings, so that uncertainty and interruptions cannot arise.

The hearing's been closed to the public.