The accused in the biggest case of the Special Court in The Hague are now in custody for four years. Experts estimate that the pace of the trial has recently accelerated due to the submissions of the Prosecution. And this month in Speciale, the second case with three accused of crimes against the administration of justice is expected to start
On November 4 and 5, it will be four years since former president Hashim Thaçi, former parliamentarians Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, as well as the former head of the Vetëvendosje Parliamentary Group, Rexhep Selimi, are under the measure of detention ordered by the Specialized Chambers in the Hague.
The trial of former members of the KLA General Staff on charges of joint criminal enterprise related to war crimes and crimes against humanity has so far had half of the evidence closed, but experts estimate that the Office of the Specialized Prosecutor has undertaken steps to shorten trial time.
“As far as I am aware, 11 witnesses have left and that at the request of the Specialized Prosecution, of course this will have a significant effect, I cannot say to a large extent in the speeding up of the procedure, since even the hearing of the witness takes time and if the Prosecution waives the hearing of the witness and this means that the time for presenting the evidence will be shorter and therefore the procedure will be more efficient. I consider that here there is still room to reduce the number of witnesses, because the court must take care of the implementation of the judgment within a reasonable time”, said the lawyer accredited by the Specialized Chambers, Artan Qerkini.
The defense of the accused may request the dismissal of the indictment after the Prosecution completes the presentation of its witnesses, which it projects until April 2025 at the latest. And, in case this request is rejected, lawyer Qerkini says that the defense is not expected to take as much time as the Prosecution, but much shorter. “If the defense does not have much evidence to present, then the beginning of 2026 may be an accessible time to have an epilogue of the trial in the first instance,” he said.
The lawyer and expert of the Fund for Humanitarian Law, Amer Alija, emphasizes that about 50 percent of the testimonies so far have been heard in sessions closed to the public. Regarding the efficiency of the course of the case, he estimates that the case is coming to an end.
“Of course, the process is coming to an end, but of course the defense part will also take time, what will be the number of witnesses that will be heard… If we continue at this pace and with these limitations given by the court, I expect that towards the end of next year there may be a decision of the first degree, but everything depends on the proposals, the number of witnesses, on the evidence that will be administered during the main hearing”, Alija said.
While the senior researcher at the Kosovo Institute for Justice, Astrit Kolaj, has emphasized that the ZPS has taken actions to make the procedure more effective in accordance with the court’s instructions, but, according to him, care should be taken that this does not to the detriment of either party.
“Now the Prosecution is taking actions that lead to a faster conclusion of the process, it has acted in two directions by withdrawing from the testimony of some of the witnesses and some of the other witnesses are testifying and have deposited written testimony and they will not be invited to be part of the testimony directly…. As much as possible to shorten the time of completion of the process, but in no way not to act with the aim of shortening the time and on the other hand the parties in the proceedings are harmed and we have a violation of the parties in the proceedings only in order to shorten the deadlines for the conclusion of the trials”, said Kolaj.
In addition to the passage of four years since the accused in the biggest case of Speciale are in custody, the second case of Speciale is expected to start this month under accusations of intimidation of witnesses. Haxhi Shala, Sabit Januzi and Ismet Bahtjari, who are accused of crimes against the administration of justice, will appear on November 14. (Koha.net)
