Today at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the defense of former president Hashim Tha\u00e7i began its closing arguments in this trial. Tha\u00e7i\u2019s lawyer, Luka Misetic, stated at the outset that Hashim Tha\u00e7i is innocent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his closing statement, he further argued that the Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SPO) has failed to meet the burden of proof against Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For four and a half hours, Tha\u00e7i\u2019s defense is expected to argue for his innocence, KosovaPress reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Present in the courtroom are former president Hashim Tha\u00e7i, former Assembly speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former MP Rexhep Selimi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHashim Tha\u00e7i is innocent. That is your starting point when you begin your deliberations to reach a verdict. We know that in this procedure he is innocent because the law requires you to presume him innocent. Believe it or not, I have heard presidents of international tribunals give speeches where they misunderstand this. They say that a \u2018finding of not guilty\u2019 does not mean that he is innocent. That way of thinking misunderstands the entire international criminal trial process. Before you are four men whom the law says you must presume innocent. This case has been brought here because the SPO has made allegations claiming that it has evidence proving beyond reasonable doubt that they are guilty, and consequently for more than five years we have been involved in this process where the SPO and its allegations must be tested to see whether they can prove those claims. This trial is not an examination or review of Hashim Tha\u00e7i\u2019s life; it is a test of the SPO\u2019s claim that Hashim Tha\u00e7i should no longer enjoy the presumption of innocence,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the defense presentation, Misetic stressed that international witnesses testified that the events taking place were not linked to Tha\u00e7i, based on their information, including intelligence sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou must find that the SPO has failed, that it has not managed to prove its charges and reach an acquittal in which the accused are released from the charges. Hashim Tha\u00e7i will remain innocent as a matter of law\u2026 The SPO has not alleged that any witness in this trial was influenced. You heard from numerous international witnesses that Hashim Tha\u00e7i was not suspected of war crimes while these events were occurring and unfolding. These witnesses told you that they were informed about events on the ground through diplomatic sources, intelligence services and others, as well as through their personal experiences, including with Hashim Tha\u00e7i. You heard from former Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin, who told you that in late June 1999 he specifically investigated the allegations made in The New York Times in June \u201999 regarding Tha\u00e7i. He checked and verified the available information and sources the U.S. government had and did not find a single piece of evidence linking Mr. Tha\u00e7i to war crimes,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Misetic added that the Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office is attempting to dismiss the testimony of international witnesses who testified in Tha\u00e7i\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe SPO is trying to dismiss the testimony of these international witnesses by saying that they were uninformed about the internal developments and the internal functioning of the KLA,\u201d <\/em>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office and the victims\u2019 counsel concluded their closing arguments yesterday in the trial against Hashim Tha\u00e7i, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West has requested 45-year prison sentences for each of the four former KLA leaders, amounting to a total of 180 years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yesterday, the prosecution also alleged that former president Hashim Tha\u00e7i \u201clied several times to internationals,\u201d citing the testimonies of James Rubin and Wesley Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The presentation of closing arguments marks the final stage of the largest judicial process at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The prosecution, victims\u2019 counsel, defense teams and the former KLA leaders, during this week and next week, have the opportunity for the last time to address the trial panel with their submissions in this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hashim Tha\u00e7i, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi are facing charges brought by the Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office, which they have described as unfounded. The defense has also rejected the charges and argued that the KLA did not have an organized command structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their trial began on April 3, 2023 \u2014 nearly three years after the indictment was confirmed, during which time the former KLA leaders have been held in detention in The Hague. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the defense of former president Hashim Tha\u00e7i began its closing arguments in this trial. Tha\u00e7i\u2019s lawyer, Luka Misetic, stated at the outset that Hashim Tha\u00e7i is innocent. During his closing statement, he further argued that the Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SPO) has failed to meet the burden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":80149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[301,296],"tags":[5928,2302,7488,1170],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80150,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80148\/revisions\/80150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}