Exited hearings increase distrust of Special Court

The first ten 2024 court hearings in the war crimes trial and crimes against humanity against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, and three other co-continents along with him in Kosovo's Specialised Chambers in The Hague were held almost fully in closed sessions.

The Specialised Prosecutor's Office has clarified what the five witnesses who have been heard during this period have witnessed, but neither the public nor journalists have been able to witness themselves.

The closed hearings have simply prompted lingering accusations of critics within Kosovo that the court lacks transparency, experts say of BIRN.

Kosovo-based legal expert Amer Alija said that from the beginning of the trial in April 2023 until the end of January 2024, during which 44 witnesses witnessed in court, “around 60 percent of witnesses heard testified at closed public hearings”.

On November 7th, 2023, judges issued a oral order aimed at providing greater publicity for procedures. It was a continuation of an earlier order that instructed the prosecution and defence to try to conduct more public proceedings “given the number of private or closed sessions”.

When demanding that the testimony of a protected witness or confidential information be edited by publicly available documents, the prosecution and defence “should take into account the need to ensure the greatest amount of publicity, while also guaranteeing the effective protection of those who have been given safeguard clauses”, the tribunal told a later press conference.

After more than two months, however, the situation has not changed.

Alija said she thought the order of judges “was not a strict order that the hearings from now on would definitely be held public”.

The frequent closed hearings and the lack of independent monitors in the courtroom do not allow continued public oversight and reporting of the court, adding lack of confidence in the trial against former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders among the people in Kosovo who already have their doubts about the court's motives, experts warned.

Specialised rooms were created to try crimes allegedly committed by KLA fighters during and shortly after the Kosovo war from 1998 to 2000. They are part of Kosovo's judicial system, but are located in the Netherlands and with international staff.

They were created under pressure from Western Kosovo allies, who feared Kosovo's justice system was not strong enough to try cases related to the KLA and protect witnesses from interference. But the Special Court is not viewed well by the Kosovo Albanians, who see it as an insult to the KLA's fight for release from Serbian rule.

Abbit Hoxha, assistant media professor and Kosovo-born conflict at the University of Agder in Norway, said there is a <x0 degree of distrust within the public coming with the mandate of this court and the way it was created”.

“The lack of transparency of the process leads to a evaporation of any court ruling, which then causes trouble for the legitimacy of this court”- Hoxha added.

The main problem is that the majority in Kosovo believe the court has no legitimacy, despite having been adopted by parliament”, he stressed.

However, he stressed that despite the general lack of confidence in the Specialised Chambers, no Kosovo citizen has tried to avoid accusations against them filed by the tribunal.

The first five young witnesses from 2024 é witnesses 40 to 44 in court testified by closed doors for the role played by the political leader The wartime KLA, Thaci, as well as the alleged murders by former KLA fighters, according to the prosecution. Their claims could not be heard by the public.

The only witness to testify at the opening sessions in January was the 39th witness, Serbian Dejan Jeftic, who continued the testimony he began to give in December, telling the court that he and two of his relatives had been kidnapped and mistreated by KLA members.

Alija said that because the judicial process is often not public, the republic has difficulty creating an objective opinion about the final decision”. /Callo. com/