Live update

During the status conference in the Thaçi et al. case today, the SPO announced that they currently anticipate calling two witnesses in court next week and one witness in March. They will inform about any additional witnesses or changes to their witness list in due course. The SPO also announced their intention to close their case on 15 April, with no more witnesses expected after 4 April.

The parties also discussed other matters, such as the additional bar table motions and the potential Rule 130 requests by the Defence.

This was the last hearing this week. The Thaçi et al. trial will resume on Monday, 24 February, with a regular hearing scheduled to begin at 09:00.

The testimony of witness W04491 was completed this afternoon, and this was the last witness for this week. As announced by the Panel, the parties will meet for a status conference at 09:00 tomorrow, 19 February, to discuss the next steps in the proceedings.

Witness W04491 is the new SPO witness, whose testimony commenced this morning. According to the SPO, this witness, along with another person, was arrested by KLA members in July 1998 and subsequently detained and mistreated at two locations.

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

The Prosecution’s 121^st witness Sylejman Selimi completed his testimony this afternoon, after which the trial adjourned for today and for the week. The trial will resume on Tuesday, 18 February 2025, at 09:00.

SPO witness Syleman Selimi continued his testimony today. The Panel is currently putting questions to him.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 13 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 12 February 2025, the Court of the Appeals Panel granted a request by P. Shala Defence for an extension of the time limit and authorised it to file its appeal brief against the Reparation Order by 14 March 2025. As informed earlier, the Defence filed its notice of appeal on 28 January.

On 31 January 2025, Trial Panel II and the Pre-trial Judge denied a request for temporary release on compassionate grounds of Hashim Thaҫi. The decisions were based on the circumstances of Mr. Thaci’s father at the time the request was made, two weeks ago.

The public redacted versions of these decisions were filed on 11 and 12 February and are available here and here. The legal framework of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers allows detained persons to make requests for a custodial visit to Kosovo when there are compelling humanitarian grounds. The relevant judges decide on any such requests, based on the information provided at the time a request is made.

SPO witness Syleman Selimi continued his testimony today. He is currently being cross-examined by the Veseli Defence. 

Please be informed that, as announced by the Panel, the first session will last until 12:00, followed by a 10-minute break, and the second session will continue until 13:00. After that, the trial will follow its usual schedule, with a lunch break from 13:00 to 14:30, and then regular sessions until 16:30.