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The Special Court rejects the motion of defense of Thaçi and former KLA leaders

2025-07-16 11:18:36Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The Special Court rejects the motion of defense of Thaçi and former KLA
Hashim Thaci

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague have completely rejected the defense motion that requested the removal of certain material facts from the indictments against former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

The motion aimed to challenge the inclusion of events that occurred before May 1998 and after June 20, 1999.

Presiding Judge Charles Smith explained that the incidents mentioned by the defense are not considered separate charges, but rather integral parts of the existing charges.

Smith said that "what the defense objects to is not an accusation, but is a part of an accusation in the form of facts of certain materials" which, according to him, constitute the charges or counts in the indictment.

According to Smith, Rule 130 does not give the trial panel the power to dismiss specific parts of the indictment that contain material facts, if these do not constitute independent charges.

He emphasized that the interpretation of this rule requires a full examination of each count of the indictment, not of each individual fact that contributes to its construction.

"The trial panel notes that the incidents and events that occurred at the time contested by the defense are not charges within the meaning of Rule 130," he said.

The judge added that many of the facts in question relate to crimes against humanity, for which, unlike war crimes, it is not necessary to prove the existence of an armed conflict.

For this reason, even if the defense arguments were accepted, they would not lead to the dismissal of any count of the indictment.

"The trial panel is not convinced that it has authority under Rule 130 to dismiss portions of the charges or materials forming part of the indictment, whether for temporal or other reasons," Smith emphasized, announcing that the motion was dismissed in its entirety.

Rule 130 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers deals with motions to strike charges from the indictment before the start of the trial.

This rule allows the defense to file a motion to dismiss one or more specific charges if it claims that the Prosecution's evidence is insufficient to support those charges.

The goal is to prevent an unfounded indictment from proceeding to a full trial.

Meanwhile, on April 15, 2025, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office announced that it had completed the presentation of evidence in this case.

The confirmed indictment against Thaçi, Veseli, Krasniqi, and Selim was filed on September 30, 2022 and contains ten counts, charging the defendants with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi have been in detention in The Hague since November 2020.

The Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor's Office were established in 2015 by the Assembly of Kosovo.

The Kosovo Special Court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, investigates alleged crimes committed by former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.


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