The defence teams of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and four others co-accused of obstruction of justice in Thaci’s war crimes trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague have called for their acquittal, accusing the prosecution of charging them based on conversations that did not result in any witness-tampering or intimidation.
The prosecution claims that that during visits at the Detention Centre in The Hague, where Thaci is being held, he told the other four defendants – Hajredin Kuci, Fadil Fazliu, Isni Kilaj and Bashkim Smakaj – to instruct certain witnesses in his war-crimes trial about what to say in court.
But Sophie Menegon, Thaci’s lawyer, told the court during closing statements on Thursday that Thaci was “on trial for having a conversation in the Detention Unit [where he is being held pending the verdict in his war crimes trial]. There is no allegation of a bribe, compulsion, or threat against witnesses.”
She added: “There is no allegation of actual interference with witnesses …There isn’t any victim in this case …The prosecution asks you to send Mr Thaci to prison for six years over conversations inside a detention unit that resulted in zero real-world impact.”
The claims are based on recordings of the visits as well as physical evidence found also at Kilaj’s home in November 2023 – less than a month after Kryeziu and Kilaj met Thaci – allegedly printed via the only printer at the detention centre that Thaci could use.
Thaci and his four-co-accused have denied wrongdoing.
Smakaj’s lawyer, Jonathan Elystan Rees, in his closing statements on Friday, called for the acquittal of all the defendants.
“You should find Mr Smakaj and all the other defendants not guilty, whether individually or collectively,” he said, because Smakaj’s actions did not obstruct or have an impact on the course of justice.
Smakaj “cannot be convicted on the allegation that he intentionally aided in disobeying court orders, because he was completely unaware of the court’s orders”, Rees said.
He added: “There is no evidence from the prosecution, nor any legal obligation, requiring my client to be aware of the operational guidelines and functioning procedures of the detention centres.”
The lawyer for Isni Kilaj, Ian Edwards, told the court on Friday that Kilaj did not take any action after visiting Thaci at the Detention Centre in The Hague, saying he “neither called nor met with any witnesses”, so showing a lack of intent to obstruct justice.
“Everything else is mud that the prosecution is throwing at Mr Kilaj, hoping that some of it will tarnish his reputation,” he added.
David Young, lawyer for Fadil Fazliu, highlighted that his client was not even questioned by the prosecution.
“We can infer that the prosecution adopted a strategic approach of not interviewing them, of not questioning these individuals regarding the allegations. Is this the right way to initiate investigations or bring charges? I believe not. I state clearly that it is not,” Young told the court.
Alexander Admiral, lawyer for Hajredin Kuci, told the court that his client had been charged based on a wrongful translation of a message he sent to one of the witnesses in Thaci’s war-crimes trial, former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighter Rrustem Mustafa.
According to Admiral, the message had been misinterpreted as passing a note from a third individual when the rightful translation revealed that Kuci was passing his support to Mustafa and was basically “a man calming an old friend”.
During the prosecution’s closing statements on Thursday, it was claimed that Thaci tried to influence Mustafa and another former KLA, fighter, Bislim Zyrapi, both of whom were testifying in his war-crimes case.
The testimony of both men favoured Thaci’s defence.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was created specifically to try former members of the KLA; it is located in The Hague and staffed by international judges and prosecutors due to doubts about the Kosovo justice system’s own ability to try former KLA fighters, many of whom are considered heroes in Kosovo. Witness-tampering has been one of its key concerns from the outset.
