Doyle: Judgment to be delivered by panel of independent judges

The mandate of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers is to ensure fair, impartial and secure trials, while judgments are delivered by a panel of independent judges on the basis of the law and careful consideration of all evidence presented at trial concerning the individual responsibility of the accused, Specialist Chambers spokesperson Michael Doyle said.

Doyle made the statement in response to a question from Danas about how the court viewed statements by KLA veterans warning of possible “civil unrest” in Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia if their former commanders were not acquitted on September 16.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague declined to comment on whether the statements by KLA veterans constituted pressure on the court or on the planned gathering of Albanians in The Hague on September 16. The court also did not provide a specific answer as to whether another postponement of the delivery of the judgment was possible.

The newspaper was also not given clarification as to “whether there is any legal basis for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s public claims that Hashim Thaci will be acquitted of war crimes charges, or for claims that any sentence imposed on Thaci could be equivalent to the time he has already spent in detention.”

The judgment in the case against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi is scheduled to be delivered on September 16. They are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Closing statements concluded on February 18, while the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office asked the court to sentence each of the four former KLA leaders to 45 years in prison.

Ahead of the judgment, KLA veterans have announced a rally in support of the detainees in The Hague for Saturday, September 12, under the name “Freedom March,” while countdown clocks have been installed across Kosovo marking the time remaining until the delivery of the first-instance judgment.