The researcher of the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Nevenka Tromp, has assessed that no one can predict what the verdict of the Special Court will be against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
In an interview for KosovaPress, she also commented on the extension of the deadline for announcing the final verdict.
Tromp, who is a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, also spoke about the petition with over 200,000 signatures from Albanians submitted today to the Special Court.
She says this initiative by the Organization of KLA War Veterans (OVL-UÇK) does not aim to interfere with the judgment. However, the Croatian academic has doubts that this act could also have negative effects.
Based on legal practice, the lecturer at the University of Amsterdam, Nevenka Tromp, said that the three-month deadline may not be enough for the announcement of the verdict.
The Special Court confirmed today the extension by another 60 days of the deadline for announcing the judgment for the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
The spokesperson of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague, Angela Griep, told KosovaPress that 20 July is not the date of the verdict announcement but the date marking the extended deadline.
The researcher of the Hague Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Nevenka Tromp, outlined three possible scenarios for the verdict for the KLA four.
“It could be acquittal for all four of them, it could be conviction for all four of them, and a third scenario is that some will be acquitted, and some will be convicted. So these are three scenarios. So I’ll repeat the scenarios. First scenario is all, no one, I will repeat what I just said, no one can predict what the verdict would be. So first scenario that everyone in Kosovo expects with nervousness, but hope and optimism is that all four of them will be acquitted. Second scenario is the worst case scenario that all four of them will be convicted of some of the charges from the indictment. And third scenario is probably most likely, but not because I have any inside information I can predict what judges and how judges are going to work, but because it is a logical scenario that some of them will be acquitted and some of them will be convicted. So I think if you ask me, this is statistically highest probability,” she stated.
The Specialist Prosecutor, Kimberly West, has requested sentences of up to 45 years for each of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi gave their closing statements on 18 February, once again declaring themselves not guilty of all charges. Their defence teams have also denied the crimes alleged by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.
The trial against the KLA four began on 3 April 2023—almost three years after the indictment was confirmed, since when the former KLA leaders have been held in detention in The Hague.
