Conflicting Special, says judges are committed to faster procedures while inviting another 104 witnesses

According to him, the trial process is in the middle and that it is not known when it will end. Regarding complaints of stalling the process, he considers judges committed to ensuring that procedures are fast.

In the case of former KLA leaders, 104 witnesses for the interview will be invited, says Kosovo Specialised Chambers spokesman at The Hague Michael Doyle. According to him, the trial process is in the middle and that it is not known when it will end. Regarding complaints of stalling the process, he considers judges committed to ensuring that procedures are fast.

Michael Doyle has stayed in Pristina on Wednesday, where he has informed reporters of the court processes at The Hague.

In the interview for Kosova Prees, he talks about the trial performance against former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders.

On May 6th, the chairman of the court gave a update to the number of witnesses who have witnessed so far. So then there were 60 witnesses, now there are 68 witnesses who testified directly to the court today, and 45 other witnesses whose testimony was submitted in writing and received in court evidence. Judges in this case have also asked the parties about ways to further speed up procedures to ensure that they are not only right but fast. The prosecution has estimated that it will call its witnesses to testify by April 2025, and a large portion of the activities in the courtroom have been to discuss the pace of witnessing by witnesses, how many witnesses have remained”, he claims.

Special spokesman says the exact number of witnesses to be invited for interviews is unknown, except to mention that the prosecution has recently said they plan to interview more than 100 witnesses.

“earlier this week, the prosecution said they aim to call another 104 witnesses, and also in recent files have said they will offer possible changes to their list of witnesses in October of this year. So we have 13 months in the process and we're in the middle of the prosecution process presenting its witnesses... it's difficult to say exactly. At the beginning of the case, the prosecution was asked to give an assessment of the number of witnesses. The initial assessment was more than 300, which was later reduced to about 190 in the total that was said in court, and now the latest information is again that about 68 witnesses have testified live, 45 witnesses have given their written testimony, and the prosecution has recently said they plan to call another 104 witnesses to testify in court”, he adds.

Doyle stresses that it is difficult to determine even when the trial will be concluded in the case against former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders.

The “It is very difficult to assess the general timing of the trial because after the prosecution ends in their case, then defence teams will have the opportunity to seek release from the charges and expect any results. Then the defence teams would start calling their witnesses to testify on behalf of the accused, and we still don't know how many witnesses will call defence”, he points out.

Former Kosovo Assembly Chairman Kadri Wessel has demanded that the process be fair. At one of the specialised Chambers hearings in The Hague, he has said the trial should be made in reasonable time and in accordance with the Kosovo Constitution.

However, spokesman Michael Doyle says judges are committed to providing quick procedures.

What I can say is that over the past year the judges of the court have taken steps, including organising separate hearings, ordering or adopting specific measures with the aim of ensuring that the trial continues as soon as possible. Thus, in February, judges called a special hearing to hear how essentially presenting the SPO issue through actions on both sides could be accelerated. So what I would say is that the judges are very committed to ensuring that the procedures are as fast as possible”, he concludes.

The trial against former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders began 3 April 2023. Former KLA leaders have been tried for alleged war crimes and are being held at The Hague detention centre since November 2020.