8 hours agoWhen will the decision be made for Haxhi Shala, Sabit Jonuzi, and Ismet Bahhitari?
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)The trial panel of the Special Chambers at The Hague, also known as the Special Court, has indicated that the decision to accept or not the plea agreement for all three indictees -- Haxhi Shala, Sabit Jonuzin and Ismet Bahhitari -- “will be taken on time. The three accused have accepted this week [...]
The three accused have pleaded guilty this week to witness intimidation and obstruction of justice, through a plea agreement reached with the Specialised Prosecutor.
They are accused of cooperating to encourage a witness not to testify before the Special Court.
Until now, it has not been known which witness or in which case he was first to testify.
Bahitari has agreed along Thursday that if the court condemns him to two years in prison or less, he will not have an appeal to the verdict.
A day earlier, Shala agreed to a prison sentence of up to three years, while Jonuz was sentenced to a sentence of 24 to 30 months.
What does the prosecution say about Shala, the Bahtari's Jonuzi?
The act confirmed for the three accused on July 10, 2023, says that between April 5th and April 12th 2023 Hagi Shala, along with Sabit Januzi and Ismet Bahhitari, contacted a witness.
More precisely, according to the indictment, Ismet Bahitari visited the witness at his home on April 5 while Sabit Jonuzi paid a visit on April 12th.
The charge was reportedly asked to withdraw the testimony and offered benefits in return.
Group work, according to the Prosecution, was conducted under the direction of Haxhi Shala.
Kosovo's specialised chambers have so far declared two counts of obstruction in the administration of justice.
Two former KLA Veterans Organisation challenges -- Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj -- have been convicted of obstructing justice so far.
Meanwhile, December 6, 2024 The Special Court in The Hague confirmed a new indictment against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, as well as against four other persons for criminal acts related to “claims for illegal efforts to influence witness evidence in the trial of war crimes Thaci and others”.
Kosovo's Specialised Chambers said the indictment was confirmed against Hashim Thaci, former Justice Minister Hajredin Kuci, former head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, the Smakaj Union, the former head of Malisheva, Isni Kilaj, and Fadil Fazliu.
Meanwhile, the Special has pronounced two war crimes judgments.
The Special Court was founded in 2015 by the Assembly of Kosovo and is part of Kosovo's judicial system, but operates with international personnel and has headquarters at The Hague.
Specialised Chambers and the Specialised Prosecutor's Office investigate the alleged crimes of members of the Kosovo Liberation Army committed against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.
Currently, several court cases are under way in the Specialised Chambers, including the case against former KLA leaders Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Recep Selimi, who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. / REL
