In the case of Thaci and others, defence teams plan to file a joint request to drop charges

In the trial process at The Hague against former KLA leaders Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veselini, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, on 23 April, the Court acknowledged the withdrawal of one of the victims from the judicial process, praising that the victim should not be forced to participate.

The decision confirms that the victims' participation in this process is based on their will and respect for their procedural rights, was disclosed during the weekly conference by Special Chambers spokeswoman in The Hague Angela Greep.

Also, spokeswoman Greep announced on April 29th, the Judicial Chamber dropped Wessel's defense request to appeal an oral order regarding the refusal of a request for the Specialised Prosecutor's Office (ZPS) to hand over all notes from the preparation meeting with a witness.

According to the Court, the document in question was already in possession of protection.

On the same date, the Judicial Chamber also dropped the joint demand of defence teams to appeal admission as proof of a witness's earlier statement called by the Prosecutor. The Witness had refused to answer the prosecution's questions, but the Court estimated that the defence had had the opportunity to conduct questions and that the validity of the declaration would be assessed later, within the general examination of the evidence.

Grip also indicated that during a conference on the performance of the issue in the case of Thaci and others, defence teams said they plan to submit a joint request for the dropping of charges by 2 June, the deadline set by the Court. The prosecution will have 30 days to answer the request. After reviewing this request, the Victims Protector' turn for his testing presentation, reports “Betiming Justice”, broadcast Periscope.

During the conference, it was said that in another parallel process involving Thaci, the Smakajn Union, Fadil Fazliu, Isni Kiljan and Hajredin Kuci over witness influence claims, Hashim Thaci on April 15th declared innocence on all charges.

Meanwhile, on April 24th, Justice Ekaterina Trendafilova appointed the Appeals Panel to review Fadil Fazliu's request for extending the deadline for appealing the continuation of detention. On April 25th, the panel rejected this request by reasoning that it had given up on the deadline and presented no valid reasons for the delay. However, the Court stressed that the detention issue is reviewed every two months and the defence could present its arguments late on May 5th.