The lawyer of former Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi told the trial panel in The Hague that the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) has no evidence proving his client’s involvement in the arrests and mistreatment alleged.

During the presentation of the closing statement in the largest trial in The Hague, Ellis said that the prosecution cannot distort the situation to implicate Jakup Krasniqi in the alleged crimes, reports KosovaPress.

“There is no evidence from the SPO that Krasniqi was involved in arrests, involved in mistreatment, or handled these cases. He is a person who, when he learned about the detentions, tried to resolve the matter, and according to us, this does not indicate that he committed crimes. Therefore, the prosecution cannot distort the situation to make Krasniqi responsible for committing crimes. And the prosecution absolutely cannot prove that he had knowledge, so the prosecution has no basis to verify this… This indictment includes 437 detention cases, while in more than 50 detention cases allegedly connected to Krasniqi, the number is insignificant,” he said.

Ellis said that the SPO has not proven its claim that Jakup Krasniqi ordered the detention and arrest of Blerim Kuçi.

“They baselessly claim, in our view, that Jakup Krasniqi exercised his authority over the detention and arrest or ordered his arrest. The prosecution knows that these claims have not been proven and has tried to dismiss the arguments verbally. This remains the only basis for the significant claim that Krasniqi was directly involved in the arrest and detention of suspected persons, which the SPO has not proven… The prosecution has not even proven that Kuçi was arrested in Krasniqi’s presence. According to our submissions, this falls under the burden of proof in this case and could fill a book. The prosecution has not called any person who was present at the moment of the arrest… The SPO has not proven that Kuçi was an emblematic victim of opponents, as there is a reasonable alternative explanation allowed by the evidence. Kuçi was simply detained on the claim that he deserted during the Serbian offensives in September 1998; desertion is a criminal offense in any army,” Ellis emphasized.

Jakup Krasniqi’s defense team began their closing statement last Friday, while closing statements in the largest trial in The Hague started on February 9 of this year.

This marks the final phase of the largest trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

The defense teams of Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi have requested that they all be acquitted of all counts in the indictment.

They stated before the trial panel that there is no evidence supporting the SPO’s claims of war crimes.

Specialist Chief Prosecutor Kimberly West has requested a 45-year prison sentence for each of the former KLA leaders.

Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi face charges brought by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, which they have described as unfounded. The defense has also rejected these charges, arguing that the KLA did not have an organized command structure.

The trial against them began on April 3, 2023—almost three years after the indictment was confirmed and the former KLA leaders were held at the detention center in The Hague.