The defense of Rexhep Selimi will continue its closing statement today, KosovaPress reports.
Lawyer Geoffrey Roberts said yesterday that his client is innocent on all counts of the indictment.
He stated that the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has provided no evidence that Selimi wrote an announcement and that there is no basis to attribute such responsibilities to the accused.
While addressing the Prosecution’s allegations of a “joint criminal enterprise,” the lawyer said that no such thing had existed.
During his closing statement, which he began yesterday, he said that “if you ask the Prosecution whether Adem Jashari was part of a JCE, they cannot answer.”
The presentation of closing statements by Rexhep Selimi’s defense team will continue today, after which it will be the turn of Jakup Krasniqi’s defense.
The former senior officials of the Kosovo Liberation Army will also have the opportunity on Wednesday to address the trial panel for the final time.
Today marks the fifth day since the parties began delivering their closing statements.
This phase began with submissions from the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, where Chief Prosecutor Kimberly West requested prison sentences of up to 45 years for the four former KLA leaders.
Last night, the Assembly of Kosovo adopted a resolution calling for a fair trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi are facing charges brought by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, which they have described as unfounded. The defense has also rejected the accusations and argued that the KLA did not have an organized command structure.
Their trial began on April 3, 2023 — nearly three years after the indictment was confirmed, during which time the former KLA leaders have been held at the detention center in The Hague.
