James Rubin continues his special witnessing today

Yesterday's defense began presenting evidence to Thaci and others by calling the first witness, in this case James Rubin.

According to the court-read defence summary, witness James Rubin served as US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief Vice President from 1997 to 2000.

Representatives of the United States government yesterday attended the courtroom to accompany the witness.

During his testimony at The Hague, James Rubin said Serbian forces have tried to cover up their crimes and have tried to blame the KLA.

The Serbian government has always tried to blame the KLA and that is in line with the way the Serbian regime acted, the way it acted at the time, this is how they have tried to justify the blame on others”, he said.

“Hashim Thaci has had no authority or opportunity to detect anything”, has stated in his testimony James Rubin, who during the time of the war in Kosovo has been US Assistant Secretary of State.

Rubin, Hashim Thaci's first defence witness, testified for several hours in The Hague on recognition, meetings and communications with Thaci and other KLA members.

According to Rubin, Thaci had neither knowledge nor the ability nor the power to make decisions, questioning the prosecution's claims of a centralised KLA structure.

He described Thaci as political and not military figure.

Former US Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin, during his testimony to the Specialised Chambers in The Hague, has denied that the reason Hashim Thaci did not sign the first Rambouille deal concerned the reluctance to disarm the KLA.

Rubin stressed that the Albanian side sought assurances from NATO for the use of force in the event Serbia continues its depression.

He said Thaci also wanted the approval of Adem Demac, who, according to him, had rejected the signing.

In his testimony, Ruby accused US diplomat Christopher Hill of bias against KLA and attempting to damage its image and its secretary, Madeleine Albright.

Similarly, the witness stressed that there has been no evidence found that Thaci or Jakup Krasniqi were involved in killings or executions, and that such charges were often fabricated to violate the relationship between Kosovo and the US.

His testimony has been named by analysts in Kosovo as a challenge to prosecution charges, presenting it The KLA as a decentralised structure and not as an organisation capable of planning systematic crimes.

Political reactions in Kosovo have been numerous.

PDK and OVL- The KLA hailed the testimony as clear support for the liberation war justice.

Democratic Party of Kosovo Chairman Memli Krasniqi told Rubin's testimony that a great friend from beyond the Atlantic” is witnessing at The Hague.

MP Vlora Citaku called Thaci an unprecedented figure that approached KLA with the West.

Analyst Agon Maliqi called Rubin's testimony an important historical document that dismantles propagandistic narrators and shows the chaotic reality of war, until Lulzim Peci named it a public lecture on Kosovo's modern history.

From Northern Macedonia, Ali Ahmeti thanked the US and the democratic world for supporting the KLA war.

Meanwhile, Alban Krasniqi from LVV stressed that Rubin's testimony highlighted that military leader The KLA was Agim Ceku, not Hashim Thaci. /Periscope/