Trial against former KLA leaders, prosecution has 72 witnesses

In March, however, it will be decided whether the prosecution will add new witnesses to its initial list of more than 320. The Specialised Chambers Prosecutor's Office is expected to decide in March whether to call additional witnesses in the case of former senior Kosovo Liberation Army leaders Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselin, Rexhepi and Jakup Krasniqi, accused of co-operating in war crimes.

For the remaining 72 witnesses, Specialised Chambers spokeswoman Angela Grip has told Radio Kosovo that in future status conferences it will be decided how much evidence will be accepted in writing and how many witnesses should be presented in court, while the lawyer of the victims will also present their cases.

The expert prosecutor, of course, can also decide to remove additional evidence. First, and foremost, defence teams will be asked if they want to submit a request to drop some or all charges”, Greep said.

The lawyer, Luka Misetic, who heads the former president's defence team, Hashim Thaci, has told Radio Kosovo that they have not yet presented the list of witnesses to be removed, nor witness protection. At this point, the parties are still focused on ensuring that the prosecution can close its case within the deadline agreed on in April of this year.

The Prosecutor's Office of Specialised Chambers at The Hague had submitted a list of prosecution witnesses with 323 witnesses from whom 110 people have so far testified in the courtroom or have been available for questioning.

Also 86 evidence has been accepted only in written form, since 55 other witnesses have been removed from the original list. /rtk/