Live update

Protected witness W04644 is the next SPO witness in the Thaçi et al. case  According to the short summary read in court, this witness was detained by KLA members in 1998 while some of the witness’ family members were murdered after detention. This is the 26th SPO witness so far.

Following the completion of the testimony of the first Defence witness Bardhyl Mahmuti, the trial in the case of Shala is adjourned for the week and will resume on Monday, 2 October, at 09:30.

Today’s hearing in the Shala case will sit longer than previously announced – it is now expected to last until 16:00 (or until 16:45 in the delayed feed online).

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

After the current break (until 13:10 in the live feed or 13:55 in the delayed feed), the trial against Shala should resume with another full session (1,5 hour). Then, another 15-minute break will take place, after which the trial is expected to resume until 15:30 (16:15 in the delayed feed).

Witness Bardhyl Mahmuti resumed his testimony this morning. He is now being cross-examined by the SPO.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 21 September, 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.

Please be informed that the hearing in the Shala case tomorrow, 21 September, will commence at 09:00 and not at 09:30 as previously scheduled.

Our Calendar has the latest information on the courtroom schedule.

After the lunch break, the Shala trial will resume at 14:00 (or at 14:45 in the delayed feed) and not at 14:30 as usual.

In the trial of Pjetër Shala, the Defence has begun its presentation of evidence by calling the first witness this morning. This is Bardhyl Mahmuti and he is testifying without protective measures.

At the beginning of today’s hearing, Trial Panel I announced that the Defence was ordered to shorten the length of direct examination for some of its witnesses. This was done in order to ensure that the questioning of witnesses is conducted efficiently and that it is focused on eliciting evidence relevant to the case, the Panel explained, and accordingly revised the overall time allocated to the Defence to present its case from 40,5 to 31,5 hours.