At the Special Court this afternoon, the defense team of former MP Rexhep Selimi began presenting its closing statement. His lawyer, Geoffrey Roberts, stated that his client is entirely innocent and that the Office of the Specialist Prosecutor (OSP) has failed to prove the alleged crimes.

At the start of the closing statement, Roberts said that “unlike the prosecution, they have nothing to hide regarding the nature and content of their evidence.”

“Selimi is entirely innocent of each of the alleged crimes in the indictment, as the defense has extensively demonstrated in the final dossier. The OSP simply failed to fulfill its duty to prove any of these alleged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. That is our point, in short… The OSP must present coherent and relevant evidence to substantiate the claims against Selimi beyond a reasonable doubt in all these aspects, and it has clearly failed to do so,” he said.

In today’s session, the defense of Kadri Veseli concluded its closing statement, which began on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the closing statements have already been completed by the defense teams of former President Hashim Thaçi, the Office of the Specialist Prosecutor, and the victims’ legal representatives.

At the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, closing statements by the parties in the largest trial held there began on Monday.

The closing statements started with the Office of the Specialist Prosecutor (OSP), where Chief Prosecutor Kimberly West requested 45-year prison sentences for Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi.