The July 22 deadline for the announcement of the first-instance verdict against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi is approaching, while the defense and legal experts assess that this process has been prolonged and that their continued detention is infringing on the rights of the accused.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague had set this date as the deadline for issuing the first-instance decision, but it remains unclear whether the trial panel will meet it or seek additional time to finalize the verdict.
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According to the Specialist Chambers, the delay so far has been justified by the large volume of the case file and its complexity, stressing that the material requires considerable time for analysis and review by the judges.
However, the Specialist Chambers themselves do not rule out the possibility that this deadline could be postponed again if the judges consider it necessary. Meanwhile, Thaçi and the others continue to remain in detention more than four months after the conclusion of the trial proceedings.
According to legal experts, from the outset this process has not been fair and has been significantly drawn out, resulting in violations of the rights of the accused. They also believe there is a possibility that the decision could be delayed again.
“It is lawful, but as far as whether it is logical for us who live in Kosovo, it is illogical because it is a delay and in all likelihood it will happen. There are numerous filings, even though the judges have continuously reviewed them during the court proceedings, have read them and have heard the witnesses, the law still obliges them to analyze all the documents one by one and not all together. What matters in the end is for the decision to come out positive and for them to be released, while as for delays, they have waited several years, so let them wait a few more months, because any longer would be too much,” Skender Musa, a lawyer, told RTK.
Lawyer Arbër Jashari also says that the continuation of detention while waiting for the verdict constitutes a violation of their rights.
“The moment the prosecution’s witnesses were heard, there was no longer any reason for those people to remain there, I mean legal reason. The very fact that all the evidence has been administered and the process has ended and now we are only waiting for the verdict shows that almost even those minimal reasons on which the court could justify that these suspects might obstruct the process have ceased,” he said.
Thaçi and the others have been held in detention in The Hague since November 2020. In February, during their closing statements, they declared that they are innocent and that their release would be the fairest decision.
