Pasic: New evidence will influence the formation of the Hague trial panel’s opinion on the guilt of Thaci and others

Lawyer and former military prosecutor Dragan Pasic believes that the trial panel in The Hague, in the proceedings against four KLA leaders, will include new evidentiary material in the overall body of evidence, which consists of several thousand pages of written documents and several hundred witness testimonies, and that this will influence the formation of its opinion on the guilt of Hashim Thaci and the other accused.

Pasic says that this is new evidence that emerged after the closing arguments and final submissions in February this year.

“The Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has obtained not only information but also evidence, which is still at the stage of reasonable suspicion, that the accused Hashim Thaci, as well as other individuals who are co-accused, influenced witnesses through intermediaries, namely people who visited them in detention. This includes audio recordings, official notes, and digital notes found on mobile phones,” Pasic said.

He recalls that the defense of Hashim Thaci, as well as all the others, opposed the inclusion of this new evidence in the proceedings.

“However, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers rejected such a proposal and forwarded most of that evidentiary material to the trial panel, or rather the new trial panel, because there is reasonable suspicion related to the criminal offense of obstruction of justice. Proceedings are ongoing before another special panel, and hearings were scheduled from April 14 to 17 this year, but were canceled because the presence of witnesses could not be secured. Regardless of that, part of this evidentiary material is before the trial panel, which has not yet made a decision or taken a position on whether the evidence should be admitted, but this will certainly be done before the verdict is delivered,” he said, adding that the deadline is between 90 and 150 days and may be extended, but he does not believe it will exceed 150 days.

Pasic says the court has a deadline to decide by mid-May this year, but given this new development, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers now have a deadline until mid-July. Reactions from Pristina have been quite sharp, but regarding how much audio recordings and correspondence can influence the judges, Pasic says that the proposed sentence for all four accused is a prison term of 45 years, and that it is a single sentence covering all counts of the indictment.

“The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague impose a single sentence. There is no system of accumulation, so even if Hashim Thaci and the others were found guilty, that sentence would not be additionally increased. However, this will significantly influence the judges’ conviction and opinion when they decide on the criminal sanction. On the other hand, if the trial panel accepts this new evidentiary material as uncontested, it will also affect the later status of the convicted persons, if they are found guilty, and they will lose certain privileges they would otherwise have, such as early release,” Pasic said.

Pasic expects the defense to oppose the proposals of the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.

“However, a kind of legal alarm has already been triggered by the very fact that part of the evidentiary material has been transferred to another panel, which goes beyond the expected reaction. It is clear that this evidentiary material genuinely creates reasonable suspicion that Hashim Thaci and others influenced witnesses in terms of expected testimonies. This goes beyond the usual defense response. At the same time, the trial panel judging Hashim Thaci will, in my view, include this evidentiary material in the overall body of evidence, which consists of several thousand pages of written documents and several hundred witness testimonies, and it will influence the formation of its opinion on their guilt,” Pasic concluded.