Live update

The video-link testimony of the SPO’s 113^th witness W04500, which began yesterday, has resumed this morning.

After receiving an invitation from the Pre-Trial Judge during the status conference on 17 December 2024, Bashkim Smakaj has submitted his written plea, which was made public today, 14 January. He entered a plea of not guilty to each count in the indictment.

Following Hashim Thaci's plea we informed about earlier, every accused in this case has now declared a not guilty plea concerning the charges.

Protected witness W04500 has begun testimony, which is conducted via video link. According to the SPO summary in court, this witness was arrested in 1999 by armed KLA members and then taken to a detention site where he was subjected to mistreatment.

The Trial Panel announced in court today that, as per parties’ agreement, the prior statements of witness Sokol Dobruna have been tendered into evidence instead of the testimony in court, pursuant to Rule 155(1) of the Rules. As a result, the Panel notified the witness that his testimony was no longer required and allowed him to leave, after which the trial took a break, with a new SPO witness anticipated to take the stand next.

Sokol Dobruna is the new SPO witness, whose testimony commenced this morning. This testimony is being conducted through a video link, with the witness receiving assistance from a duty counsel at a remote location. As announced by the Presiding Judge, the testimony of this witness will, unless otherwise indicated, adhere to a modified schedule that concludes daily at 12:30. Additionally, the Panel has instructed that, following the recommendation of the KSC Witness Protection and Support Office, all parties should implement the adjusted questioning approach for this witness whenever feasible. This includes pacing the questioning to facilitate the witness's memory recall and to minimize repetitive or leading questions.

Following the completion of the testimony of witness Goodwin, the trial in the case of Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi adjourned for today. The trial will resume tomorrow, 14 January, at 09:00.

William Goodwin is the new SPO witness, whose testimony commenced this morning. This is an expert witness and is the 111^th SPO witness in court so far.

Due to a technical issue, you might have experienced problems accessing the live stream online for the first few minutes of this morning’s hearing. We apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused for the viewers of our online stream.

The full transcript of this hearing, along with the video file, will be accessible on our YouTube channel and website as soon as possible.

Following the invitation from the Pre-Trial Judge at the status conference on 17 December, Hashim Thaçi submitted his written plea on 6 January 2025. He entered a plea of not guilty to each count in the indictment.

A Constitutional Court Panel, composed of Judges Vidar Stensland, Roumen Nenkov and Romina Incutti, today, 24 December, made public its decision on a referral by Hashim Thaçi alleging certain violations of his fundamental rights. The referral related to the regime of special investigative measures imposed by the Single Judge on the accused during his detention last year.

Thaçi claimed that the imposition of the measures violated certain articles of the Kosovo Constitution and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. He complained, among other things, that monitoring his non-privileged conversations infringed on his right to privacy and certain aspects of fair trial guarantees.

The Panel determined that Thaçi’s complaint did not demonstrate a violation of his constitutional right to privacy, and consequently ruled that this aspect of the referral was inadmissible in accordance with Rule 14(f) of the Rules of Procedure for the Specialist Chamber of the Constitutional Court (“SCCC Rules”).

The Panel further found inadmissible Thaçi’s complaints concerning the right to counsel and the right to silence. Specifically, the Panel found these complaints to be premature, given that no legal proceedings have commenced in this matter and there has been no final determination on the charges. Consequently, not all possible remedies have been exhausted in line with Article 113(7) of the Kosovo Constitution, Article 49(3) of the Law, and Rule 14(f) of the SCCC Rules.

More details are available in the Panel’s decision. Please note that the referral and other filings related to this case number are not yet publicly available.