The Kosovo Specialist Chambers has extended the detention period for former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci ahead of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo.
Judge Nicolas Guillou rejected a request from Thaci’s defense team for his release, citing the risk that Thaci may abscond, obstruct the progress of Specialist Chambers proceedings, or pose a threat to witnesses providing evidence in the case.
Thaci’s defense argued that Kosovo’s police force had sufficiently prepared “to implement a series of additional measures to ensure the effective implementation, supervision and enforcement of any other measures ordered by the pre-trial judge” to keep Thaci in check.
Thaci’s defense also suggested that Thaci’s detention be relocated to a publicly unknown third country.
According to the prosecution, “no conditions of release in Kosovo can mitigate the particular risks at issue”.
Ultimately, Judge Guillou concluded that the “risk of flight; risks of obstruction and committing further crimes” was too great, and that “no other conditions that might be implemented could sufficiently address the risks posed by Mr. Thaci”.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) was established in 2015 to investigate alleged crimes against ethnic minorities and political opponents by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the conflict in which Kosovo first broke away from Serbia. The tribunal is bound by Kosovo law, but is made up of international judges and prosecutors.
Thaci and his three co-defendants have been accused of committing a series of war crimes and crimes against humanity from March 1998 to September 1999, including illegal detentions, torture, murder, enforced disappearances and persecution.
In June 2020, the special prosecutor accused the Kosovo leader of being “criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders.”
News of the indictment, first announced in November 2020, was welcomed by human rights groups and civic organizations.
“[Thaci’s indictment] brings hope for thousands of victims of the Kosovo war who have waited for more than two decades about the horrific crimes committed against them and their loved ones”, said Jelena Sesar, Balkans Researcher at Amnesty International, at the time.
Thaci is a former senior commander of the KLA. He stepped down from the presidency after charges were filed in order to “defend the integrity of the state.” He has denied the charges against him.
Serbia has similarly put a number of former soldiers, paramilitaries and police on trial for the alleged killing of ethnic Albanians during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels
