Rexhep Selimi's defence request to exclude some evidence concerning a witness is approved

It was made known through the TSF weekly conference, by its spokesman, Michael Doyle.

“In the Hashim Thaci case and co-accused, on June 19th, the Judicial Chamber approved a Selimi defence request to exclude from the process some evidence concerning a witness. The Judicial Chamber found that relevant evidence had limited provative value and has considerable damaging effect on the accused”, Doyle said.

He said the court had instructed the Special Prosecutor's Office (ZPS) not to ask questions about this test, and warned the witness not to talk about it during the testimony.

“Also, the Judicial Chamber instructed the Prosecutor not to ask questions about this test when giving testimony from the witness and warning the witness not to speak of it during the testimony being”, Doyle said, the ruling “

DPS spokesman announced that the SPS's request for two witnesses to testify via video connection was approved on the same court case, and that one was due to health and security reasons.

On June 20th, the Judicial Chamber approved a request by the Prosecutor to allow two witnesses to witness via video connection. One of the witnesses cannot travel for health reasons, while another witness, the prosecution, raised concerns about security causes. The Judicial Chamber stressed that the parties could ask witnesses questions just as if they were in the courtroom and the defence teams presented no objections to the request. The Judicial Chamber also stressed that testimony via video connection could lead to faster trial”, he said.

Michael Doyle also told of the management of hearings this week in this court case as well as of the Foday witness's request for legal representation.

The “Sessions in this court case resumed this week with testimony from the 73rd witness to the prosecution. According to the prosecution's summary, the witness, Kurtesh Foja, is former KLA military of the Posttric Operative Zone. Mr. Fopra witnessed mostly at the public hearing and without protection. On Wednesday morning, at the beginning of the session, witness Kurtesh Foja sought to have legal representation, following questions from the Judicial Chamber the previous day”, he said.

Doyle indicated that this request was not approved because, according to the court, witnesses were offered a lawyer only if there were concerns about self - discrimination and that this case was not of that nature.

On the other hand, he added that the next hearings in this court case are expected to begin on 1 July.

On Wednesday afternoon, the prosecution's 74th witness testified, witnessing at the private hearing. After that, the sessions ended this week. The next hearing on this court case is scheduled for Monday, July 1st, starting at 10: 00 a.m., he said.

While, in regard to the Januzi court case, Bahtiri and Shala has taken the decision to extend deadline for handing over preliminary court files by defence teams

“In the court case Sabit Januzi, Ismet Bahhitari and Haxhi Shala, on June 20th, Mr. Januzi for further extensions of the deadline for the delivery of preliminary court files by the defence teams. The judge ruled that preliminary court files should be handed over only after it issues its ruling on the prosecution's request to change the indictment in this court case. The Pre-Procedure Procedure Court ordered the preliminary defence files to be handed over within seven days of issuing the verdict on the prosecution's request to change the indictment. The Pre-Procedure Procedure Court also ruled that the preliminary date to pass the court file would be set 14 days after the ruling on the prosecution's request.

DPS spokesman also announced that DPSK has published its annual report on the work of the Court during 2023, which is available to the public in all three official languages.

Otherwise, Kosovo Specialised Chambers in The Hague every Thursday at 14:30, via online platform “Zoom” hold weekly information offering updated information on recent developments regarding judicial procedures and activities in this court.