FLASH
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The Specialized Prosecution Office in The Hague has requested today that Hashim Thaçi be held in custody, arguing that the rapid progress of the trial makes the risk of escape and obstruction of proceedings more concrete.
“Thaci is aware of the serious charges confirmed against him, the possible long prison sentence that could result from them, and now has full knowledge of the evidence related to those crimes. The possible imposition of a long sentence becomes more concrete with the rapid progress of the trial. In addition, Thaci now faces confirmed charges related to the criminal offenses of obstruction due to the evidence that has been obtained of his efforts to obstruct the proceedings in this case and to commit further crimes. All of the above must be considered in connection with the previous findings regarding Thaci’s means of escape,” the Prosecution’s submission quoted by Kosovo media states.
The prosecution has repeated the arguments that Thaçi poses a serious risk to the progress of the judicial process.
“Thaci continues to pose an exceptionally high risk of obstruction of proceedings. Having recently found that such a risk continues to exist, this Panel reiterated its previous determination that Thaci has (i) the interest and ability to interfere with the proceedings; (ii) attempted to undermine the DSK and offered benefits to persons summoned by the SPO; (iii) a position of influence in Kosovo that could allow him to garner support from sympathizers; and (iv) greater knowledge of the evidence supporting the serious charges against him. The conclusion of the presentation of evidence in this case does not eliminate this risk, as the Panel has noted, as witnesses remain at risk of obstruction even after their testimony,” the document states.
The prosecution claims that Thaçi has expressed interest in distributing confidential information to visitors, which, according to them, further complicates the procedure. As usual, the alleged climate of witness intimidation is also mentioned.
“Furthermore, the ongoing climate of witness intimidation and interference in criminal proceedings against former KLA members in Kosovo continues, which the Court of Appeal has agreed is a relevant ‘contextual consideration’.46 Similar findings were made in the Mustafa Trial Judgment and in the Gucati and Haradinaj case. The Trial Panel in the Gucati and Haradinaj case considered that “witness protection has continued to be a lively and critical issue in Kosovo”, and attributed the testimony of defence expert Robert Reid, who noted that, in more than 20 years in the field, he had never seen witness intimidation on the scale that exists in Kosovo” , it further states.
Closing arguments in the trial of the KLA leaders will unfold from 9 to 18 February.
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