Live update

As per the order of the Trial Panel in the Thaҫi et al. case, we informed about last week, the KSC Registrar terminated the services of Gregory Kehoe and Joe Reeder as Thaci’s counsel and co-counsel and appointed Luka Mišetić as the new lead counsel for the accused. Here is the Registrar's notification.

The SPO called its 46th witness in the trial of Thaçi et al. this morning. The witness is testifying with the pseudonym W00498 but without facial and voice distortion. According to the summary read by the SPO in court, this witness will testify about the kidnapping of his family members in the area of Rahovec/Orahovac.

Prior to the testimony of this witness, the Panel issued an oral order directing Luka Mišetić to provide the updated list of the Thaçi’s Defence team members by 11 March.

The Panel also informed the parties about an additional hearing tomorrow (21 February), which will take place at the conclusion of the regular hearing. According to the Panel’s announcement this morning, this hearing will be dedicated to the scheduling and planning of these proceedings.

As per the decision of the Pre-Trial Judge on 8 February, the SPO filed an amended version of the initial indictment against Januzi and Bahtijari. In his decision, the Pre-Trial Judge concluded that the amended indictment, available here, not only corrects Bahtijari's surname but also improves the clarity and precision of the case and is not unfair or inconsistent with the rights of the accused.

However, please note that the joint indictment in this case (which would also include H. Shala) is still to be filed by the SPO, as per the same decision of the Pre-Trial Judge.

Furthermore, the SPO also submitted its pre-trial brief in the joint case, as well as the witness' and the exhibits’ list. All of these are filed confidentially but the relevant filing informing of this submission is available here.

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

On 14 February 2024, the Trial Panel in the Thaçi et al. case approved the withdrawal of Gregory Kehoe as lead counsel for Hashim Thaçi. The decision will become effective when the Registrar appoints a new lead counsel. Since both Thaçi and Luka Mišetić (currently one of Thaçi’s co-counsels) agreed that Mišetić would succeed Kehoe, the Panel invited the Registry to take all the necessary steps to appoint Mišetić as lead counsel for Thaҫi as soon as practicable.

The Panel also approved the withdrawal of Thaçi’s co-counsel Joe Reeder while the Registrar was directed to decide upon the requested withdrawal of three legal associates and five support team members.

Finally, the Trial Panel considered the Kehoe’s request for payment of the costs by the KSC during the transition period, i.e. after the appointment of the new counsel. The Panel noted that the Registrar may decide to instruct Kehoe to continue to act or to assist replacement counsel (for a period up to 45 days) but, since the new counsel has not yet been appointed and since the Registrar has not issued any such instruction to Kehoe, the Panel found the request to be premature at this point and has therefore dismissed it.

More details in the decision.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 15 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.

As can be seen in our Court Calendar, please be informed that the hearings in the P. Shala case, previously scheduled from 4 to 15 March, are cancelled.

At the end of today’s status conference, Pre-Trial judge in the case against Januzi, Bahtijari and H. Shala issued several oral orders, two of which were related to the funding of the Defence.

Having heard the parties and noting the urgency of the issue concerning the funding of the Defence teams, Judge Guillou ordered the KSC Registry to urgently contact the Ministry of Justice of Kosovo, inquire about the funding status, anticipate the time schedule for the Ministry’s decision and report back by 20 February 2024.

Furthermore, Judge Guillou rejected the Defence’s motion for the stay of proceedings finding that no prejudice is caused to the Defence at this stage by the continuation of the proceedings since the case is still in the pre-trial phase and since the funding issue is already being addressed for resolution.

The next status conference in this case will be scheduled in March.

Please be reminded about the status conference in the joint case against Sabit Januzi, Ismet Bahtijari and Haxhi Shala case this morning at 10:00. As in the other cases,  the streaming of this hearing will be broadcast with a delay of 45 minutes. Click here to watch the live stream in English.

On 9 February 2024, having received submissions from the Registrar and the parties, the Trial Panel in the Thaçi et al. case found that there is no basis, at this stage, to order that specific measures, similar to the ones set for non-privileged visits on 1 December 2023, be put in place in respect of private visits to the accused. However, the Panel made it clear that any abuse of privileges associated with such visits will be subject to adequate response.

The Panel noted that the Registrar, if necessary, has the authority to impose specific restrictions on a private visit (as per, inter alia, Articles 34(12) and 41(9) of the Law and Rule 27 of the Rules) and has therefore instructed the Registrar to immediately notify the Panel of any such decision, which can be challenged by a detainee within seven days.

The Panel also issued specific orders and reminders to the accused (in particular Thaçi and Selimi), the Registrar and the Lead Counsel for all accused of their obligations regarding confidential information, all of which can be found in the decision.