Misetic criticizes the Specialist Chambers Ombudsperson: For 6 years, he has not contacted any of Thaçi’s lawyers

Luka Misetic, Hashim Thaçi’s defense lawyer, has reacted to Pietro Spera, the Ombudsperson of the Special Court, after the latter announced today his engagement in overseeing the detention facilities. Spera also said that, in the course of carrying out his duty, he had offered detainees private and confidential meetings, but according to him, some agreed to meet him and some others did not.

In a post on his profile on “X,” Misetic said that although the Specialist Chambers Ombudsperson speaks of his “independent mandate to monitor and protect the fundamental rights of the accused,” he has never contacted any of Hashim Thaçi’s defense lawyers in six years.

He also mentioned the Ombudsperson of Kosovo, Naim Qelaj, who he said has shown active interest and maintained continuous contact.

“While the KSC Ombudsperson says that his mandate is to ‘monitor, protect, and independently safeguard’ the fundamental rights of the accused, he has not contacted Hashim Thaçi’s lawyers even once in 6 years. By contrast, the Ombudsperson of the Republic of Kosovo, Naim Qelaj, has been actively in touch as part of his monitoring efforts,” Misetic wrote.