War Crimes Court comments on indictments against Kosovo president Thaci, PDK leader Veseli

Gazeta Express

26/10/2020 11:46

A six-month deadline of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) pre-trial judge, Nicolas Guillou, to confirm or dismiss the indictment against Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Kadri Veseli, has expired. A ten-count indictment filed by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) accuses Thaci and Veseli of war crimes during and after the war in Kosovo. 

The KSC has decided not to comment on whether the indictment filed on 24 April 2020 has been confirmed or dismissed. The spokesperson for the KSC, Angela Griep, has told Gazeta Express earlier that the pre-trial judge has, subject to the specificities of an individual case, a maximum of six months to decide on whether to confirm or dismiss an indictment. “At the same time, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence provide for a number of scenarios that could result in a confirmed indictment being made public later than the six months after its filing,” the KSC told earlier Gazeta Express. 

According to the Rules of Procedures and Evidence, there are rules, which, enable the pre-trial judge not to publish the confirmed indictment for some time. “In exceptional circumstances, upon a showing of good cause by the Specialist Prosecutor before the confirmation of the indictment, the Pre-Trial Judge may, inter alia, for security reasons, to avoid the flight of the Accused, or to avoid any other disruptions of the proceedings or social disturbances, order the temporary non-disclosure of the indictment, related documents or information to the public until further order. The indictment shall in any case be made public, with redactions where necessary, no later than the Accused’s initial appearance,” states the Rule 88 on the Public Nature of the Indictment.

The President has not commented on the indictment, whereas the PDK MP, Mergim Lushtaku said over the weekend that they do not interfere in justice.

Lawyer Arianit Koci said on Saturday that The Hague Court is violating basic human rights of Thaci and Veseli by not commenting on the announced indictment against them. “The six-month deadline has expired! The entire nation is being kept hostage. On the other hand, the human rights of Mr. Thaci are being brutally violated,” Koci wrote on Facebook adding that this leads to citizens losing trust in this court.

On 24 April 2020, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) issued a statement saying that it had filed a ten-count Indictment with the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) for the Court’s consideration, charging Thaci, Veseli, and others with a range of crimes against humanity and war crimes. According to the statement, the Specialist Prosecutor has deemed it necessary to issue this public notice of charges because of repeated efforts by Thaci and Veseli to obstruct and undermine the work of the KSC. /GazetaExpress/