Four former KLA leaders begin legal battle in appeals court

Following the first-instance ruling, the judicial process against four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Hashim Thaçi, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi, has entered a new phase. They were sentenced last week to a total of 81 years in prison.

During this week, the defendants’ legal teams began the procedures to notify the Kosovo Specialist Chambers of their decision to appeal the verdict. By Friday, September 25, the defence teams must inform the court which parts of the ruling they will challenge.

Under the ruling, Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, Kadri Veseli to 18 years, and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years.

The lawyers have announced that they will challenge several elements of the verdict on appeal, particularly those relating to responsibility for the killings and unlawful detentions in a situation involving a third party, specifically NATO.

As part of the further procedural steps, the victims’ counsel has until October 14 to submit evidence related to compensation claims. The prosecution, meanwhile, must submit its filings by November 4.

Amer Alija, a representative of the Humanitarian Law Fund who monitors war crimes proceedings, told Radio Kosovo that the appeals procedure consists of several stages and could last several months. The process begins with notification of an appeal and ends with the issuance of the final decision.

He explained that the rules on procedure and evidence set different deadlines for notifications, responses to appeals, the submission of appeals and the scheduling of a hearing before the second-instance court.

Meanwhile, in Kosovo, the Democratic Party of Kosovo has submitted to the Assembly a draft initiative to amend the Law on the Specialist Chambers. According to the party, the initiative aims to increase the accountability and transparency of the court, which is based in the Netherlands. /RTK