Live update

The public redacted version of the appeal judgment against Pjetër Shala, issued today, 14 July, is available in English and can now be accessed in our Public Court Records.

On 14 July 2025, the Court of Appeals Panel in the case of the Specialist Prosecutor v. Pjetër Shala, composed of Judges Michèle Picard, Kai Ambos and Nina Jørgensen, issued its judgment. The Appeals Panel affirmed Shala’s conviction for the war crimes of arbitrary detention (count 1), torture (count 3), and murder (count 4).  However, the Appeals Panel also granted in part three of the fourteen grounds raised by Shala in his appeal, dismissing the remaining grounds raised by Shala, and reducing his sentence from 18 to 13 years of imprisonment, with credit for time served. More details are available in the Press Release.

The streaming of the pronouncement of the appeal judgment in the case of Pjetër Shala, scheduled for 11:30 this morning, will be broadcast with a delay of 10 minutes. Click here to watch the live stream in English.

In its decision dated 11 July, the Panel in the Thaҫi et al. case informed the parties that it will issue its ruling on the Defence’s motions for dismissal of charges, pursuant to Rule 130 of the Rules, orally on 16 July at 09:00. The Panel also reiterated that the Victims’ Counsel should be prepared to start its case on the same day.

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

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 10 July, at 14:30. During this briefing, the KSC Spokespersons will provide a short update on the latest developments in the judicial proceedings before the KSC, as well as on other public activities of the Court. Journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions. Pre-registration is required to attend each briefing. To pre-register, please send an email with name and affiliation to [email protected]. Deadline for pre-registration is every Thursday at 12:00. The Zoom details will be shared following pre-registration. Recordings of the update provided during the Weekly Press Briefings will be made available on the KSC YouTube Channel.

On 9 July 2025, the Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court (SCCC) dismissed a referral by Salih Mustafa alleging that his 15-year sentence for the war crime of murder violated Article 33(3) of the Kosovo Constitution and that it was disproportional to the criminal offense. The Chamber found the referral inadmissible, pursuant to Rule 14(f) of the Rules of Procedure for the SCCC, concluding that Mustafa failed to demonstrate that the sentence imposed constituted a violation of fundamental rights under the Constitution. 

This was Mustafa’s second referral to the Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court, both alleging, inter alia, violations of his fundamental rights in connection with the sentencing decisions. All related filings are available in our Public Court Records under case numbers KSC-CC-2024-27 and KSC-CC-2025-29.
 

On 3 July, the Trial Panel in the case against Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi, and Krasniqi granted the Victims’ Counsel's request to have two expert witnesses testify together on 16 July, pending the Panel's ruling on the Rule 130 motion. Additionally, the Panel also deferred its determination on certain proposed expert reports while rejecting others submitted by the Victims’ Counsel. More details can be seen in the Panel’s decision.

In a subsequent filing on 4 July, the Victims’ Counsel notified the Panel that his case in court will comprise only these two expert witnesses, whose joint testimony is estimated to last for 9 hours, including the cross-examination by the other parties.

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

Following the latest scheduling decision issued by the Trial Panel today, the court schedule for the Thaçi et al. trial covering July to September 2025 is now available on our online calendar. Please note that, apart from the status conference scheduled for 22 July, all other listed hearings should be considered tentative, pending the Panel’s decision on the Rule 130 motion and notifications from the Defence teams regarding whether they intend to present a case.