The Hague Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has called for a harsher sentence for former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi in Case “12,” which concerns obstruction of justice. In its final submission, the SPO requested that the period he has spent in pretrial detention not be counted in this case.
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According to the Prosecution’s argument, the time spent in pretrial detention may be deducted for Thaçi only in Case “06,” in which he was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.
The SPO referred to Rule 163(6), which guarantees accused persons the right to have time spent in pretrial detention before sentencing counted. However, the Prosecution emphasized that Thaçi is currently being held in pretrial detention on the basis of two separate arrest warrants: since November 2020 in Case 6; 1463, and since November 2024 in the current proceedings.
The Prosecution assessed that similar situations have also arisen before other tribunals, when a person is separately charged with obstructing the fundamental proceedings conducted against them.
Referring to the Appeals Chamber’s decision in the Bemba et al. case, the SPO argued that when an accused person is held in pretrial detention because of arrest warrants issued in different cases, this period may be taken into account only once.
According to the Prosecution, such an approach is necessary to ensure the deterrent effect of the sentence. Otherwise, an accused person might not be deterred from carrying out such acts if they knew that the time spent in pretrial detention would be deducted from their sentence both in the main case and in the proceedings for obstruction of justice.
For this reason, the SPO requested that any calculation of the time Thaçi spent in pretrial detention be made only as part of his sentence in Case 6, since throughout these proceedings he was also detained on the charges in that case.
In Case “12,” the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has requested a six-year prison sentence for Hashim Thaçi. If the request not to count his pretrial detention is accepted and added to the 25-year sentence in Case “06,” his overall sentence at the Specialist Chambers would reach 31 years in prison.
For the other accused, the Prosecution has requested three years in prison for Bashkim Smakaj, Isni Kilaj and Fadil Fazliu, while it has requested nine months in prison for Hajredin Kuçi.
