Doyle: Ways to accelerate processes at The Hague are being sought, hearings are closing for witness safety

The “in Kosovo's Specialised Chambers are some pending subjects allegedly involved in witness intimidation. Also, recently learned through SPS transcripts that some arrested may have provided information to protected witnesses during their visits to detention facilities. These are some, I would say, examples showing this concern for witness security and security, which is one of the reasons KSF was founded outside Kosovo”, he said.

Doyle stresses that 48 witnesses have so far testified in Thaci, Veselin, Krasniqi and Selimi cases.

The trial “Trup called a special session last week to discuss the adaptability of the procedure in light of the number of witnesses that have been called so far and the deadline set by the prosecution in April 2025 to complete its case,”, he adds.

Doyle said the prosecution stated in that hearing that they had already rationalised their case and that they intend to call another 144 witnesses.

“However, judges said the prosecution would have to further reduce the number of witnesses, so they assigned the prosecution a deadline until May 21st to further run the evidence and report to the court. And they discussed other ways that the judgment could accelerate”, Doyle told Kosovo Online.

He added that early this week they saw that the court had scheduled several new court hearings this year.

Thus, under the legal framework of Kosovo Special Councils, the procedures are public unless there is an justified reason for which the judge has decided to make the procedure confidential. This is done to protect witnesses, victims, or other participants in the procedure. In November last year, judges in Thaci case and others issued several oral orders in an effort to bring more publicity to the procedure. And since then, I think if you look at the number of witnesses who have witnessed fully privately, compared to some public hearings, I don't know the exact number, but I think about 15 witnesses publicly testified with a known identity”, he said.

When the hearings are closed, he recalls, it is for a good reason to protect witnesses.

The judges make that decision carefully, but judges remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure that as much as possible the trial is kept public. Therefore, Specialised Law and Chambers and Special Prosecutors create a task for Kosovo authorities to co-operate with court decisions”, Doyle said.

Speaking of co-operation with the Kosovo Police, Doyle said she cannot talk about operational issues.

“I know from publicly available information, for example, that when the Special carried out the arrests, they were supported by EULEX and Kosovo police”, he says.