Live update

At the end of the closing statement today, Pjetër Shala's Defence requested the Trial Panel to acquit the accused. The hearing will continue with responses from the SPO and the Victims' Counsel, if any.

The Defence team of Pjetër Shala resumed their closing statement this morning, which started yesterday.

Following the conclusion of the presentation of the closing statement by the Victims’ Counsel, the Defence team of Pjetër Shala has now begun the delivery of their closing statement.

Victims’ Counsel Simon Laws is now presenting his closing statement in the P. Shala trial.

At the end of its closing statement today, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office requested the Trial Panel to find Pjetër Shala guilty of all the crimes charged and to sentence him to 28 years in prison. 

Today’s hearing is adjourned and the trial resumes tomorrow morning at 09:30 with the closing statement of the Victims’ counsel.

Please note that the lunch break today will last until 13:45 (14:30 in the delayed online feed). After that, there will be another session from 13:45 until 15:15 (14:30 – 16:00 online), followed by a 15-minute break. The last session should be held from 15:30 until 16:00 (16:15 – 16:45 online).

The SPO has begun delivering its closing statement in the Pjetër Shala trial and is expected to continue tomorrow, 16 April. Subsequently, the Victims' Counsel will present their closing statements tomorrow, followed by the Defence, whose presentations should continue on 17 April. The responses, comments from the parties, questions from the Panel, and submissions on reparations are scheduled for 17 and 18 April. The last day will end with the accused's statement.

On 8 April, KSC President Ekaterina Trendafilova rejected the request by Hashim Thaçi to substitute Judge Nicolas Guillou as a Single Judge in the case number KSC-BC-2018-01 following his appointment as a Judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The President clarified that she can only replace a Judge if the Judge is unable to perform their duties due to being engaged in another activity or occupation. This is not the case with Judge Guillou, she said, since he will only exercise his judicial functions at the ICC as of 19 August. Until that time, he remains available to perform his duties at the KSC.

Furthermore, the President of the KSC summarily dismissed the Defence's alternative request for Judge Guillou’s disqualification. The President found, inter alia, that the request was lacking in substance and that the Defence did not provide any arguments on how Judge Guillou's judicial position at another court, which has no overlapping jurisdiction with the KSC, may affect his independence.

 More details in the full decision.

On 5 April 2024, President Trendafilova assigned a Constitutional Court Panel to rule on the referral, filed by Sabit Januzi, Ismet Bahtijari and Haxhi Shala, on 2 April 2024.

Judges Vidar Stensland, Roumen Nenkov, and Romina Incutti will decide on this referral regarding the constitutional validity of the revised KSC Practice Direction on Legal Aid Regulations.

Here is the transcript of today's KSC Weekly Press Briefing.