Trendafilova: Most of Kosovo citizens believe that the Special Court is fair

The president of the Special Court, Ekaterina Trendafilova, pointed out that the public opinion survey showed that the majority of Kosovo citizens believe that the Special Court is fair, the Albanian Post reports.

"In fact, our public opinion survey last year showed that, regardless of those in Kosovo who were vocally opposed to the Special Court, most people believe that the court will ensure that the rights of the accused are respected, that the proceedings will be conducted fairly and that we will do everything we can to protect our witnesses", Trendafilova says in an interview with the Albanian Post.

She adds that the Special Court was not created for the sake of popularity, and that she and the structure of the court "remain committed to disseminating information about its work and mandate transparently and efficiently to the public in Kosovo and the wider region."

Trendafilova emphasized that the Court primarily focused on fulfilling its mandate given to it by the Parliament of Kosovo, ensuring that its proceedings are conducted independently, fairly, safely and impartially.

"The decisions and verdicts of the court will speak for themselves, showing that the court will perform its mandate legitimately and credibly," she pointed out.

According to her, the Specialized Councils of Kosovo will hold responsible only individuals for the crimes they committed and will not hold responsible any ethnic group, organization or community.

"According to this principle, all indictments against individuals were confirmed. The court did not accuse any group or entity as such, because it is not legally possible".

Court adjournments

After the arrest of the four leaders of the KLA, Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, the Prosecutor's Office of the Special Court in The Hague expressed the need to start the trial against them swiftly.

Prosecutor Jack Smith said they are ready to start the trial in September 2021 at the latest.

"The deadlines for the start of the trial are determined by the judges. The deadline for the start of the trial, in the cases of Gucati, Haradinaj and Mustafa, was respected and not violated. "Even in the case against Shalia, the pre-trial judge indicated that he intends to put him in the judicial body from the end of August," she pointed out.

When asked if the Special Court cooperates with Serbia, Trendefilova says that the court is allowed to do so in order to obtain certain information.

"The law, which was adopted by the Parliament of Kosovo, foresees that the Special Chambers and the Special Prosecutor's Office can enter into arrangements with states, international organizations and other entities in order to fulfill their mandate, especially in terms of cooperation and judicial assistance," she said.

Why was the exculpatory evidence hidden from Thaci and the others?

I cannot comment on that. All I can say is that it is up to the pre-trial judge to ensure that the parties comply with the Rulebook and the deadlines and rules he has set regarding the disclosure of evidence. The court's very good legal framework provides several safeguards for defendants to resolve any disagreements they may have.

Why was there no investigation into the leaking of documents from the Special Court?

Regarding your implication that there was no investigation into how the information leaked, I cannot speak for the Special Prosecutor in charge of the investigations, but I believe he said publicly on at least two occasions that he was looking into the matter. Mr. Gucati and Mr. Haradinaj were found not guilty of leaking documents belonging to the Special Prosecutor. The court council convicted the defendants of intimidating witnesses and breaching the secrecy of the proceedings. These are crimes according to the Criminal Code of Kosovo.

In the conclusion, Trendafilova expressed her satisfaction with the work of the court.

She said, "from September 2020 to March 2021, eight defendants were arrested, and four proceedings were initiated in court.”

"All this happened during the pandemic, with most of the staff working remotely. Since then, over 130 public hearings have been held, streamed in Albanian, Serbian and English, and judges of the pre-trial, trial, appeals and constitutional councils have made over 1,200 court decisions and orders," she concluded.