Gashi: The Key Problem in Thaçi’s trial is that either Serbs or Albanians will not believe the verdict

Lawyer Tom Gashi assessed that the testimony of former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin has so far been “the strongest,” but stressed that it will be up to the judges whether it will change the “course of the trial” against Hashim Thaçi and three co-defendants before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. Gashi warned that the key problem of this process is that the final verdict will not be trusted—either by Serbs or by Albanians.

“If the verdicts are acquittals, the majority of Serbs will not believe the Specialist Court. If the opposite happens and they are found guilty, Albanians—99 percent of them—will not believe this court. I think this is a waste of time and money on something that will not contribute anything in the future, in the independent state of Kosovo,” Gashi told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on the phase of presenting defense evidence in the trial against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi, the lawyer said that their attorneys have put forward “VIP witnesses.”

“Their lawyers proposed several witnesses who are VIPs, who were in such political positions during the Kosovo war in 1998 and 1999. These are witnesses who present to the court the situation that existed in Kosovo during the war,” Gashi explained.

The first defense witness in the trial of Thaçi and three other former KLA leaders was former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin.

After him, testimonies were given by Paul Williams, legal adviser to the Kosovo delegation during the Rambouillet negotiations, and British diplomat John Duncan.

Gashi said that all of them presented the situation “as they saw it.”

“I think the strongest statement was that of James Rubin, who presented the situation both during the war and within the KLA General Staff in Kosovo, as well as in Rambouillet. He presented more of the political situation and what he directly saw on the ground. He spoke more about Hashim Thaçi and the others, and about the KLA General Staff that was in Kosovo,” the lawyer noted.

Commenting on claims that Rubin’s testimony had “turned the course of the trial,” Gashi urged caution.

“These are statements we hear every day, but as a lawyer I must say we need to wait and see how the Specialist Court assesses these testimonies. If they consider them credible, I think they will help the defense of Thaçi and the others, but I cannot say anything until I see how the court views them,” he stated.

He explained that the very fact the court accepted these statements means they will be of assistance in reaching a fair verdict.

So far, three of the total 14 defense witnesses have testified.

Gashi said that most of them will testify directly in the courtroom of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

“They will testify directly in court, but for several of them only their statements will be presented because, unfortunately, they are no longer alive. The court has already decided to accept those statements, and now we expect the conclusion of this trial, which has already lasted nearly five years,” Gashi noted.