Doyle: It was requested that the trial of the former KLA leaders be fair and efficient

The Spokesperson for the Kosovo Specialized Chambers in The Hague, Michael Doyle, commented on the length of the trials of former KLA leaders, reminding that last year the Trial Chamber requested that the parties ensure that the trials were not only fair but also efficient. He is confident that the judges will continue to urge the parties to do everything they can in this regard.

This week, a discussion was again held regarding the speed and duration of the trial of former KLA leader Hashim Thaci and co-defendants. Prosecutors plan to call another 104 witnesses by April next year, while the defense argues that this is impossible since only 67 witnesses have been heard in the past year of the trial.

When asked if the Court would take any additional measures to expedite the trial, Doyle stated that he would not speculate on what the Trial Chamber might do.

"What I can say is that last year the Trial Chamber again requested submissions from the parties, organized a conference, and set measures and issued orders to ensure that the trial is not only fair but also expeditious. We have recently seen that the Trial Chamber ordered the Prosecution to report on further rationalization of the case," Doyle said to Kosovo Online.

He expressed confidence that the judges will continue to call on the parties to do everything they can to make the cases more efficient.

Regarding the payment of compensation of 207,000 euros to victims in the case against Salih Mustafa and in response to a comment that in an earlier submission to the court, it seemed that the Kosovo Government had agreed to pay compensation from a special fund but later media reports suggested that official Pristina refused to do so, Doyle stated that in January this year, the President of the Specialist Chambers appointed a judge to oversee the implementation of the reparation order and to receive reports from the registrar.

"In this case, from the submissions, it is clear that steps are being taken, but currently there is very little public information on the status of implementation," he added.

A judge recently made a decision, confirmed by the Appeals Chamber, to release on conditional bail Isni Kilaj, who is suspected of obstructing judicial proceedings. When asked if this decision represents a change in the judges' stance on the necessity of detention in lengthy processes and whether the Court trusts that the Kosovo police will meet all the conditions set by the judge, Doyle did not want to speculate on future judicial decisions.

"It is important to emphasize that each case is different and that every decision by a judge or the Judicial Chamber on whether to grant bail takes into account the specifics of the case, especially the situation at the time the detention decision was made," he emphasized.

In Kilaj's case, significant factors considered included that he had been in detention for six months and that the criminal offenses he is suspected of carry a sentence of one to five years in prison.

Another specific condition considered was that the Prosecution recently requested the judge to suspend the review of the submitted indictment, and the judges believed this would significantly delay the case.

"This is an example of concrete factors that truly go into the judges' decision on detention, so I cannot speculate on what this might mean for other cases," he added.

When asked whether the Court had anything to do with the Pristina authorities' decision to withhold funding for the defense of Haxhi Shala, Sabit Januzi, and Ismet Bahtijari, who are accused of obstructing the court, and what the Court's stance is on the Pristina government's funding of the defense of Thaci and co-defendants for war crimes, Doyle did not wish to comment on the decisions or the expense policy of the Kosovo Government.

"I would not comment on the decisions or expense policy of the Kosovo Government. Regarding the cases of Shala, Januzi, and Bahtijari, as far as I understand, at least two of the accused in this case have requested legal aid, and on May 13 and 14, the Registrar informed the judge of the conditional assignment of defense counsel for Bahtijari and Shala," Doyle stated.