Hague defence seeks to appeal decisions to accept some evidence in Thaci case and others

In addition, the defence has requested appeals permit even for the decision to add two pages to an existing test, allegedly referring to several weapons used in a co-ordinated attack by Wessel and Selimi against Serbian police stations in 1997.

According to the presentation, the video was accepted on September 30, 2025, and two pages of evidence were accepted later on October 1st. Even this part, defence requires that an appeal be allowed, reports “Justice Trust“, broadcast Perixopi.

According to defense, the video was presented to the witness Paul Williams on September 17, 2025, who said he had no knowledge of the video or the information being discussed in it.

At this session, the acceptance of this video had also rejected Hashim Thaci's defence, while the prosecution had said it was being presented in order to discredit the witness.

The video was about Veton Surroi and Dukagjii Gorani, who had talked about Thaci's behavior in Rambouje. They allegedly claimed that Thaci had used threatening languages against members of the Albanian delegation.

According to the defense, the court had said that this video was not related to the witness, nor was it important to his credibility, but it is sufficiently connected to the fundamental issue of the case. As a result, the video had been accepted.

While the two additional pages added to an existing test on October 1st 2025, the defence says the prosecution presented those two pages from an interview attributed to one of the accused during her counterforests to a witness, which he had said did not recall those events.

According to the document, the defence has rejected the admission of these two pages after the witness had given no comment on the document, while the court had said the material was important.

According to the defence, the court has consistently refused to accept documents that were presented through a witness when that witness was unable to comment on their content.

The defence says that the same was done on September 17th 2023, when a prosecution's objection to a defence test was accepted, arguing that there is no connection between the witness and the proposed document.

According to the defence, accepting articles that the Prosecutor has failed to prove a link between them and the witness is a deviation from previous practices of this court and international precedents.

While on the second issue for which the defence has asked for appeals permits, it is said to have to deal with two additional pages accepted in evidence, related to the actions and behavior of Selim and Wessel, as they refer to their involvement in supply of weapons before the period of the indictment.

The defence says that according to the Prosecutor, these weapons were used during a co-ordinated attack against several Serbian police stations in September 1997.

In the document, the defence claims the charges contain no reference to the involvement of the two indictees in such acts and that no further evidence has been presented for it during the main phase of the prosecution.

The defence says these two pages were used during questions against witness Sokol Basota and that what was read to the witness did not mention Selim's involvement in these actions, nor did Bashat Sãot have a comment on Selim and Wessel's behavior as described on these two pages of document.

The presentation of these two pages by the Prosecutor with the defence witness, the latter says it is an effort for the prosecution to reopen its case.

The court accepted the two pages, arguing they were relevant to Mr. Thaci and his role. However, no consideration has been made concerning the importance of Mr. Selimi or Veselin”, said in the defence building.

The defence stresses that the prosecution is tasked with presenting all evidence concerning the guilty during its main phase. So the closure of the prosecution case shows that all incriminating evidence is placed before the court, according to the defense, ensures the right of the accused to face evidence against them.

According to the defence, contrary to efforts to expand the actions and behavior attributed to a co-accus who has chosen not to present his case, are not the acceptable purpose of the questions. That's because the defence estimates it causes prejudice resulting from allowing the prosecution to reopen its case.

The defence requires that the Appeals panel consider two key issues on how to accept evidence, claiming that current decisions have created judicial uncertainty, prejudice against the accused and violation of the right to a fair trial. The intervention of Appeals would, according to her, help standardise the procedure and speed up the judicial process.

Meanwhile, on April 15th 2025, the prosecution has announced that it has completed presenting evidence in the case.

While, the defence had applied according to the 130th Rule, which envisions a request to drop any charges or charges altogether in the indictment. The decision on this requirement was made on 16 July 2025. According to the chairman of the panel, Charles Smith III, what he had sought protection was his failure to rely on war crimes claims involving incidents that occurred before May 1998 and after June 20, 1999.

The trial “Trug notes that incidents and events that have occurred at the time opposed by defence are not accusations within the understanding of the 130” rule, the chairman of the court, Charles Smith III, said.

As a result, this motion had been dropped with the reasoning that the court's authority is to bring down material that constitutes accusations involving time causes. While, the same day, the protection of the victims had presented its evidence, calling two expert witnesses to testify simultaneously.

In addition to testifying on July 16, 2025, the testimony of these two witnesses continued on July 17, 2025, ending the testimony of the victims' defense witnesses.

The Specialised Prosecutor's Office, on September 30th 2022, has handed over the confirmed amended indictment against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, which consists of ten points on charges, where the latter are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On April 29th 2022, the Specialised Prosecutor's Office had handed over a amended indictment to Hashim Thaci, Kadri Wessel, Rexhepi and Jakup Krasniqi, where four indictees have committed war crimes even in Gjilan, Budakov and Semtish.

On November 9th 2020, in their first appearances, Hashim Thaci's Jakup Krasniqi has been declared innocent of the charges placed on them. Wessel has also been declared in his presentation on November 10th, as has Rexhep Selimi on November 11th.