Live update

Due to the inability of the next witness to testify today, the afternoon’s session in the Thaçi et al. trial will be dedicated to procedural matters and is expected to last shorter than usual.

Protected witness W02749 started giving testimony in the Thaçi et al. trial this morning. According to the summary read by the SPO in court, the witness was a resident of Prizren, who was taken and detained by KLA members in June 1999.

Following the completion of the testimony of the SPO witness Hajrush Kurtaj, the trial in the case of Thaçi et al. has adjourned for today and for the week. This trial will resume on Monday, 26 February, at 09:00.

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

On 20 February 2024, the KSC Registrar terminated the services of the duty counsel and appointed Julius von Bóné as the lead counsel for Salih Mustafa, who had already been represented by him during the trial and the appeal phases. Here is the Registrar’s notification.

See our recent posts about the assignment of counsel to Mustafa: 25/01/2024; 30/01/2024; 08/02/2024

This morning, the Defence of Hashim Thaçi continued its cross examination of the 45th SPO witness Hajrush Kurtaj.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 22 February, 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 February, Trial Panel I closed the evidentiary proceedings in the Pjetër Shala case, ordered the parties to submit their final trial briefs, together with the statement on the impact of the alleged crimes on the participating victims by 25 March and scheduled the closing statements to take place from 15 until 19 April 2024.

Here is the public redacted version of the Panel’s order, filed on 20 February.

This morning, SPO continued its direct examination of the 45th witness Hajrush Kurtaj.

Please note that, as announced yesterday, today’s hearing is scheduled to last longer than usual (until 17:15).

Following the completion of the testimony of the 46th SPO witness W00498, the SPO called its previous (the 45th) witness, whose testimony already commenced on 1 February. This is a former KLA officer Hajrush Kurtaj.