At the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the first witness is being heard in the case against Hashim Thaci, Bashkim Smakaj, Isni Kilaj, Fadil Fazliu, and Hajredin Kuci.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The witness, identified as witness number 7 in this trial and a staff member of the Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SPO), began his testimony on Friday under protective measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In court, he stated that there had been several investigations into obstruction of justice, KosovaPress reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had several investigations into obstruction of justice. I did not know how many of these cases would actually materialize as obstruction cases. In the end, there were only three obstruction cases, and I cannot specify for you how many sources we had for case 10, 12, or 11. All of these were connected to case 06,\u201d<\/em> the witness said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This answer was given during cross-examination by Hashim Thaci\u2019s lawyer, Sophie Menegon. At the start of the session, she also asked the witness if he had read the prosecution\u2019s and defense\u2019s files and whether he had access to documents in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawyer: <\/strong>\u201cWhat knowledge do you have regarding case 12, since you are SPO staff? Can you first tell us if you have read the prosecution\u2019s and defense\u2019s files for case 12?\u201d At the request of lawyer Menegon, the session later continued in private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the public session, the first witness also stated that witnesses were regularly contacted by the SPO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawyer:<\/strong> \u201cIs it true that witnesses in case 6 were regularly contacted by the SPO to be updated on the progress of case 6?\u201d During cross-examination by Thaci\u2019s defense, the witness said that Rrustem Mustafa and Bislim Zyrapi were interviewed regarding the alleged interference in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cIs it correct that Mr. Mustafa and Mr. Bislim Zyrapi were interviewed by the SPO regarding the alleged interference?\u201d Hashim Thaci, Bashkim Smakaj, Isni Kilaj, Fadil Fazliu, and Hajredin Ku\u00e7i are charged with obstruction of justice, to which they have pleaded not guilty. The defense lawyers have also contested these allegations, arguing that the prosecution\u2019s evidence does not prove the criminal acts they are accused of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thaci and the others are accused of providing instructions and confidential information to witnesses regarding the war crimes trial during visits to The Hague in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the first witness is being heard in the case against Hashim Thaci, Bashkim Smakaj, Isni Kilaj, Fadil Fazliu, and Hajredin Kuci. The witness, identified as witness number 7 in this trial and a staff member of the Specialist Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SPO), began his testimony on Friday under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":80849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[301,296],"tags":[5928,2302],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80848"}],"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=80848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80850,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80848\/revisions\/80850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kosovapress.com\/eng\/admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cNo.\u201d
Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cCan you tell us if you have access to the documents of case 12?\u201d
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cYes, I have access.\u201d
Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cSince these two cases are connected, can you tell us if you also have access to the documents of case 6?\u201d
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cYes, I have access to all documents.\u201d
Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cCan you tell us what materials you read to prepare for your testimony, besides your own statements?\u201d
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cI read some documents related to witness protection, but I don\u2019t remember anything specific,\u201d replied witness 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cCorrect.\u201d
Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cFor example, the SPO intended to summon them?\u201d
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cYes.\u201d
Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cSo they were contacted to be informed when the SPO trial would begin, when it was expected?\u201d
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cCorrect,\u201d he stated at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cYes, I am aware.\u201d
Lawyer<\/strong>: \u201cWere any other witnesses from case 6 formally interviewed, recorded with audio or video, regarding the interference claims?\u201d
Witness<\/strong>: \u201cI don\u2019t recall,\u201d the witness replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n