Doyle: Efforts are being made to expedite processes in The Hague; sessions are being closed due to the safety of witnesses

Spokesperson for the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, Michael Doyle, told Kosovo Online that one of the reasons why Kosovo and the European Union had agreed to establish the Kosovo Specialist Chambers outside Kosovo had been the concern for the safety of witnesses.

“Several cases are currently before the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo in which individuals are alleged to have participated in intimidating witnesses. Additionally, recent transcripts from the Specialist Prosecutor's Office revealed that some detainees may have provided information about protected witnesses during their visits to detention facilities. These are some, I would say, examples that point to this concern for the security and safety of witnesses, which is one of the reasons why the Kosovo Specialist Chambers was established outside Kosovo,“ he stated.

Doyle emphasizes that so far, 48 witnesses have testified in the case involving Thaci, Veseli, Krasniqi, and Selimi.

“Last week, the Trial Chamber convened a special session to discuss the expeditiousness of the proceedings in light of the number of witnesses called so far and the time frame set by the prosecution in April 2025 to conclude its case,“ he adds.

Doyle stated that at this session, the prosecution had indicated that they had already done the rationalization of their case and intended to call an additional 144 witnesses.

“However, the judges indicated that the prosecution would need to further reduce the number of witnesses, setting a deadline of May 21 for the prosecution to further streamline its evidence and report to the Trial Chamber. They also discussed other ways in which the trial could potentially be expedited,“ Doyle said.

He added that earlier this week, they had seen that the Trial Chamber had scheduled several new court hearings for this year.

“So, according to the legal framework of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, proceedings are public unless there is a justified reason for the judge to decide to make the proceedings confidential. This is done to protect witnesses, victims, or other participants in the proceedings. In November last year, the judges in the Thaci and others case issued several oral rulings to try to bring more publicity to the proceedings. And since then, I think if you look at the number of witnesses who have testified completely privately, as opposed to more public sessions, I don't know the exact number, but I think it's around 15 witnesses who have testified publicly with their known identity,“ he emphasized.

When sessions are closed, he recalls, it is done for good reason - to protect the witnesses.

“Judges carefully make that decision, but judges remain committed to doing everything they can to ensure that as much of the trial as possible is held in public. So, the Law and the Specialist Chambers create an obligation for the Kosovo authorities to cooperate with the court's decisions,“ Doyle said.

Speaking about cooperation with the Kosovo Police, Doyle said he could not comment on operational matters.

“I know from publicly available information, for example, that when the Special Police Units carried out arrests, they were supported by EULEX and the Kosovo Police,“ he said.