Thaci's defense request for contact with a witness rejected

Angela Greep, chief of information and communication with the public in Kosovo Specialised Chambers ( DPSK), has indicated that on 16 August the court has rejected Thaci's defence request regarding contact with a certain witness.

Thaçi's defense demanded that the protocol regulating contact with witnesses regarding this witness be abolished, given the prosecution's announcement that he has decided not to call this witness at this stage in the process, Greep said, the Justice Act reported.

She added that the court has concluded that the protocol continues to be in force, with the argument that the prosecution is still planning to call the witness, but at a later stage of the process.
Greep said that the court has also clarified that every time the prosecution decides not to call a witness she has previously announced, it should inform the defense, because in these cases the protocol ceases to be in force.

Consequently, the prosecution needs to review its list of witnesses and continue to announce the protection without delay every time it decides not to call a certain witness, she said.

Otherwise, he informed them that in Thaci's trial and others, witnesses 18th and 19 called by the Prosecutor's Office testified this week with safeguard clauses and mainly in private hearings.

The next hearing in this case is also scheduled for Monday, September 4, beginning at 9: 00 a.m.

Greep also provided information on the case of Peter Shala and that on 29 August, the Specialised Chamber of the Constitutional Court has rejected a reference request by Peter Shala, consisting of it unacceptable.

In this regard, she said the Specialised Chamber of the Constitutional Court has concluded that it is the competence of the Constitutional Court and the Appeals Chamber to make decisions on the authenticity of the evidence, while the task of the Constitutional Court is to decide whether the process as a whole and how evidence was received were correct.

Since the trial process and further appeals have not yet ended, judges concluded that the reference request was premature, she said.

Next, Greep has said that during the Defence Preparation Conference in the Shala case, which was held on August 24th and 25th, the court provided a number of oral guidelines and orders for organising the presentation of evidence by defence.

She has informed that the court ordered the defence to remove five names from the witness list and hand over the revised list of witnesses until 29 August 2023.

Also, Greep has said that two experts -- Karin Duhnik-Prinsen and Cheyenne Lozano Parra -- from the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights and Medical Education -- have testified in the courtroom, while the third expert, Stefan Lerc, expert on calculating income losses, said the court has decided to accept only this witness's written report, while defence was allowed to present questions or objections to the report.