Live update

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.

Please be informed that, apart from the summary distributed earlier, the full public redacted version of the Reparation Order in the P. Shala case is now available in English.

As announced in our Calendar, the winter court recess at the KSC begins on Monday, 23 December and ends on 10 January 2025. During this period, no hearings are held and some non-essential services are reduced to a minimum. However, the court remains fully functional during this period and work continues across all sections of the KSC. Filings are possible during the recess and, unless otherwise ordered by the judges, judicial deadlines continue running.

On 18 December 2024, the Trial Panel in the Thaҫi et al. case granted a request of the Victims’ Counsel and allowed a close relative of a recently deceased victim to continue the action as a victim participating in the proceedings. As a result, the total number of participating victims in this case remains at 154.

Having confirmed his comprehension of the plea agreement's terms and consequences, as outlined in Rule 94 of the Rules, Ismet Bahtijari was asked to enter his pleas regarding counts 2 and 3 of the indictment. He pleaded guilty to both counts today. The session then continued by addressing additional items outlined in the agenda and is now concluded.

The Trial Panel announced today that it will be able to make decisions regarding all plea agreements, including sentencing, only after receiving the report from the Victims’ Participation Office, which is expected by 20 January 2025 (we informed about yesterday), along with the parties' observations on the report, due by 27 January. The Panel clarified that any potential reparations must be addressed as part of the plea agreements, in accordance with Rule 94 (2)(c) of the Rules. Further instructions will be provided by the Panel after the winter recess.

Please be informed that the current break (which started at around 15:15 live or at 16:00 in the delayed online stream) will last longer than announced. The trial is expected to resume at 16:15 (or at 17:00 in the online stream).