During the period covered by the indictment, Hashim Thaçi was allegedly the Head of the Political and Information Directorates of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). By the end of March 1999, Thaçi was allegedly Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Kosovo (PGoK) and KLA Commander-in-Chief.

  

During the period covered by the indictment, Kadri Veseli was allegedly a member of the KLA Political Directorate and Head of the KLA intelligence services. By late March 1999, following the formation of the PGoK, he allegedly became chief of the Kosovo Intelligence Service and PGoK Minister of the Intelligence Service.

 

During the period covered by the indictment, Rexhep Selimi was allegedly the Head of the KLA Operational Directorate. By at least August 1998, he was, according to the indictment, KLA Inspector General and by the end of March 1999, upon the formation of the PGoK, he became PGoK Minister of Public Order/Minister of Internal Affairs.

 

During the period covered by the indictment, Jakup Krasniqi was allegedly a member of the KLA Political Directorate and the official KLA spokesperson. Later in 1998, he was allegedly officially appointed as a KLA Deputy Commander. With the establishment of the PGoK, Krasniqi, according to the indictment, became the PGoK spokesperson.

INDICTMENT HISTORY

The initial indictment against the four accused was confirmed on 26 October 2020 and made public on 5 November 2020. On 22 July 2021, the Pre-Trial Judge, in two decisions, granted in part the Defence motions and ordered the SPO to correct and amend the indictment by, inter alia, excluding the joint criminal enterprise III liability for the special intent crimes (three appeals against this decision, filed by Thaci, Selimi and Krasniqi, were dismissed  by the Court of Appeals on 22 August 2022). The SPO filed the amended indictment on 3 September 2021. On 23 December 2021, the Pre-Trial Judge granted the SPO's leave to amend the indictment in order to include a number of new allegations, namely additional detention sites in Suharekë/Suva Reka municipality, new incidents of persecution and murder in Gjilan/Gnjilane as well as new incidents of the accused's personal participation in the charged crimes. Following the dismissal of the appeals by Thaci and Veseli against this decision by the Court of Appeals Panel on 22 March 2022, the SPO filed the public redacted version of the amended indictment on 29 April 2022. On 22 July 2022, the Pre-Trial Judge granted, in part, the request by the Thaci Defence alleging defects in the latest indictment and ordered the SPO to file a further amended confirmed indictment, with additional information to the current charges, by 30 September 2022. The additional information relates to names of relevant direct perpetrators, victims and locations in the specific paragraphs of the current indictment.

On 29 September 2022, the Pre-Trial Judge granted the SPO request to withdraw the allegations of crimes in Ferizaj/Uroševac municipality from the indictment and ordered the SPO to reflect this withdrawal of charges in the further amended indictment, which was filed on 30 September 2022. A lesser redacted version of the indictment was filed on 27 February 2023. This is currently the operative indictment in this case. 


Summary of charges

The indictment states that the crimes charged were committed from at least March 1998 through September 1999 and took place in several locations across Kosovo as well as in Kukës and Cahan, in Northern Albania. They were allegedly committed by members of the KLA against hundreds of civilians and persons not taking part in hostilities. The indictment alleges that Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi are individually criminally responsible, pursuant to various forms of criminal responsibility for crimes, which were committed in the context of a non-international armed conflict in Kosovo and were part of a widespread and systematic attack against persons suspected of being opposed to the KLA.

The charges are the following:

SIX COUNTS OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

  • Persecution (Count 1)
  • Imprisonment (Count 2)
  • Other inhumane acts (Count 4)
  • Torture (Count 6)
  • Murder (Count 8)
  • Enforced disappearance of persons (Count 10)

FOUR COUNTS OF WAR CRIMES

  • Illegal or arbitrary arrest and detention (Count 3)
  • Cruel treatment (Count 5)
  • Torture (Count 7)
  • Murder (Count 9)

 

LINK TO THE OPERATIVE INDICTMENT

 


PROCEDURAL DEVELOPMENTS

  • Following their arrest by the Specialist Prosecutor, Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi were transferred to the Detention Facilities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on 4 and 5 November 2020.

  • Thaçi’s and Krasniqi’s initial appearances took place on 9 November 2020 before the Pre-Trial Judge, Nicolas Guillou. During their appearances, they pleaded not guilty to all counts of the indictment.

  • On 10 and 11 November, Veseli's and Selimi's initial appearances took place, respectively. Both accused pleaded not guilty to all counts.

  • On 21 April 2021, the Pre-Trial Judge granted the applications of nine victims and admitted them as victims participating in the proceedings as Group I. On 10 December 2021, 25 May 2022 and 14 December 2022, respectively, the Pre-Trial Judge admitted 11, 12 and 21 new applicants as part of the same Group. On 20 February 2023, the Trial Panel admitted 84 new applicants as part of the same Group. The next Panel’s decision on victims’ participation was on 10 March 2023, when 3 new applicants were admitted. This brought the total number of victims in this case to 140. On 21 July 2023, the Panel granted a request of the Victims’ Counsel and allowed the surviving spouse of one of the victims, who has recently passed away, to resume her action as a victim participating in these proceedings. Accordingly, the total number of victims remained 140. In its 7th decision on victims' participation on 7 September 2023, the Panel admitted one applicant as a victim (resubmitted by a person, whose application was previously denied). On 4 October 2023, following the death of one of the admitted victims, the Panel allowed three relatives to continue the participation on his/her behalf. In its decision, made public on 29 April 2024, the Panel accepted nine new applicants. On 10 July 2024, two more applicants were accepted, increasing the total number of victims to 154. On 27 August 2024, the Panel was informed by the Victims' Counsel that one of the victims, who was admitted on 21 April 2021, had passed away, resulting in a decrease in the total number of victims to 153.

  • On 17 December 2021, the SPO filed, as strictly confidential and ex-parte, its pre-trial brief. The corrected version of the SPO’s pre-trial brief was filed on 24 February 2022 (also as confidential). On 9 June 2023, the SPO filed a confidential lesser redacted version of its pre-trial brief. The public redacted versions of pre-trial briefs were filed on 8 November 2022 (Hashim Thaçi), 13 March 2023 (Kadri Veseli), 8 May 2023 (Selimi and Krasniqi) and on 3 April 2023 (SPO).

  • On 10 May 2022, during their further appearances, all four accused pleaded not guilty to the new charges in the amended indictment, filed on 29 April 2022. 

  • On 30 November 2022, the Pre-Trial Judge notified the President that the case file will be ready for transmission to the Trial Panel on 15 December 2022. On 15 December 2022, the Pre-Trial Judge transmitted the case file to Trial Panel II.

  • The trial preparation conference took place on 18 January 2023, followed by the Specialist Prosecutor's Preparation Conference on 15 February.

  • The trial commenced on 3 April 2023 with the opening statements of the Specialist Prosecutor and the Victims' counsel, followed by the Defence teams on 4 and 5 April 2023.

Current pre-trial information/statistics*
Trial Panel composition Judges Charles Smith III (Presiding), Christoph Barthe, Guénaël Mettraux, Fergal Gaynor (Reserve judge)
Specialist Prosecutor's Office Alan Tieger, Clare Lawson, Nathan Quick
Defence Counsel Thaçi: Luka Mišetić (counsel), Dastid Pallaska, Pierre-Richard Prosper, Sophie Menegon, Peter McCloskey and Nina Tavakoli (co-counsels)
Veseli: Rodney Dixon (counsel), Annie O’Reilly and Kerrie Ann Rowan (co-counsels) 
Selimi: Geoffrey Roberts (counsel), Eric Tully and Rudina Jasini (co-counsels)
Krasniqi: Venkateswari Alagendra (counsel), Aidan Ellis, Victor Băieșu and Shyamala Alagendra Khan (co-counsels)
Victims' Counsel Simon Laws (counsel), Maria Radziejowska (co-counsel)
Number of participating victims 153
Trial stage Prosecution case
Number of trial days in court 158
Number of witnesses in court 95 (SPO)
Pre-trial period length 28 months and 30 days

*As of 03/10/2024


List of all hearings

Below you can find the list of all hearings in the Thaci et al. case. Please note that videos and transcripts will be added to the list as they become available. 

List of all public hearings in the Thaci et al. case
Date Type of hearing Video recording Transcript
09/11/2020 Initial appearance (Krasniqi) Video Transcript
09/11/2020 Initial appearance (Thaci) Video Transcript
10/11/2020 Initial appearance (Veseli) Video Transcript
11/11/2020 Initial appearance (Selimi) Video Transcript
18/11/2020 Status Conference Video Transcript
17/12/2020 Status Conference Video Transcript
16/02/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
24/03/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
19/05/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
21/07/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
14/09/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
29/10/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
15/12/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
04/02/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
22/02/2022 Hearing Video Transcript
24/03/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
10/05/2022 Further appearance (Thaci) Video Transcript
10/05/2022 Further appearance (Veseli) Video Transcript
10/05/2022 Further appearance (Krasniqi) Video Transcript
10/05/2022 Further appearance (Selimi) Video Transcript
20/05/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
13/07/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
08/09/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
04/11/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
16/12/2022 Status Conference Video Transcript
18/01/2023 Trial Preparation Conference Video Transcript
15/02/2023 SPO Preparation Conference Video Transcript
20/03/2023 Status Conference Video Transcript
03/04/2023 Opening statements (SPO and Victims' Counsel) Video Transcript
04/04/2023 Opening statements (Thaçi, Veseli and Selimi's Defence) Video Transcript
05/04/2023 Opening statements (Krasniqi Defence) Video  Transcript
11/04//2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04474 Video Transcript
12/04/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04474 Video Transcript
13/04/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04474 Video Transcript
17/04/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04474 and W02652 Video Transcript
18/04/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W02652 Video Transcript
19/04/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W02652 Video Transcript
20/04/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04421 Video Transcript
10/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04748 Video Transcript
11/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04748 Video Transcript
12/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04748 Video Transcript
15/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04748 Video Transcript
16/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04748 Video Transcript
17/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04748 and W03165 Video Transcript
18/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03165 Video Transcript
22/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W03165 and W04355 Video Transcript
23/05/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04355 and W01236 Video Transcript
12/06/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04323 Video Transcript
13/06/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04323 Video Transcript
14/06/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04323 and W01602 Video Transcript
15/06/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01602 Video Transcript
19/06/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W03540 and W03811 Video Transcript
20/06/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03811/Status Conference Video Transcript
10/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04337 Video Transcript
11/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04337 and Rrustem Mustafa Video Transcript
12/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Rrustem Mustafa Video Transcript
13/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Rrustem Mustafa Video Transcript
14/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Rrustem Mustafa Video Transcript
17/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Rrustem Mustafa Video Transcript
18/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Rrustem Mustafa and Francis Ledwidge  Video Transcript
19/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Francis Ledwidge and W04586 Video Transcript
20/07/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04586 Video Transcript
14/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03879 Video Transcript
15/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03879 Video Transcript
16/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03879 Video Transcript
17/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Dragica Božanić Video Transcript
28/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03832 Video Transcript
29/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W03832 and W04566 Video Transcript
30/08/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04566 Video Transcript
04/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04368 and Agim Idrizi Video Transcript
05/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Agim Idrizi and Frederick Abrahams Video Transcript
06/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Frederick Abrahams Video Transcript
07/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Frederick Abrahams Video Transcript
11/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Frederick Abrahams and W03827 Video Transcript
12/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04255 Video Transcript
13/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04255, W03827 and Douglas Young Video Transcript
14/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Douglas Young Video Transcript
25/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04644 Video Transcript
26/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04644 and W04781 Video Transcript
27/09/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04781 Video Transcript
09/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Nebojša Radošević Video Transcript
10/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Nebojša Radošević and W04577 Video Transcript
11/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04577 and W04769 Video Transcript
12/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04769 Video Transcript
16/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04769 Video Transcript
17/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04769 Video Transcript
18/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W4577 Video Transcript
30/10/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W4753 Video Transcript
02/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Predrag Dedić Video Transcript
06/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Gjergj Dedaj Video Transcript
07/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Gjergj Dedaj Video Transcript
08/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of witness Gjergj Dedaj Video Transcript
09/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Dragan Ivanišević and W04444 Video Transcript
13/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04444 and Sadik Halitjaha Video Transcript
14/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Shefqet Kabashi Video Transcript
15/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Shefqet Kabashi and Sadik Halitjaha  Video Transcript
16/11/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of witness Sadik Halitjaha Video Transcript
04/12/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Sadik Halitjaha Video Transcript
05/12/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Sadik Halitjaha and Sandra Mitchell Video Transcript
06/12/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Sandra Mitchell Video Transcript
07/12/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Sandra Mitchell Video Transcript
11/12/2023 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Sandra Mitchell and Dejan Jeftić Video Transcript
12/12/2023 Trial hearing Video Transcript
15/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01493 Video Transcript
16/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01493 Video Transcript
17/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W01493 and W04489 Video Transcript
18/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04489 Video Transcript
23/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04489 Video Transcript
24/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04489 Video Transcript
25/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04489 and Dejan Jeftić Video Transcript
29/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W02082 and W04870 Video Transcript
30/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04870 and W04325 Video Transcript
31/01/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04325 Video Transcript
01/02/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04325 and Hajrush Kurtaj Video Transcript
20/02/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W00498 and Hajrush Kurtaj  Video Transcript
21/02/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Hajrush Kurtaj Video Transcript
22/02/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Hajrush Kurtaj Video Transcript
26/02/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W02749 Video Transcript
28/02/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01140 Video Transcript
18/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04811 and Claude Cahn Video Transcript
19/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04446 and W04571 Video Transcript
20/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04571 Video Transcript
25/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Shaun Byrnes Video Transcript
26/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Shaun Byrnes Video Transcript
27/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Shaun Byrnes Video Transcript
28/03/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Shaun Byrnes Video Transcript
02/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04739 Video Transcript
03/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Shaun Byrnes and W04739 Video Transcript
04/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04739 Video Transcript
22/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Ramiz Qeriqi Video Transcript
23/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Ramiz Qeriqi Video Transcript
24/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Ramiz Qeriqi and W04850 Video Transcript
25/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W02951 Video Transcript
29/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W03877 and Nuredin Abazi Video Transcript
30/04/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Nuredin Abazi and W04371 Video Transcript
01/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04371 Video Transcript
06/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01978 Video Transcript
07/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03878 Video Transcript
21/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Dietrich Jensch and Johan Rudolph Fritsch Video Transcript
22/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Johan Rudolph Fritsch and W04710 Video Transcript
23/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04710 and W04230 Video Transcript
24/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04230 Video Transcript
27/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04305 Video Transcript
28/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Jan Kickert Video Transcript
29/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Jan Kickert Video Transcript
30/05/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01336 Video Transcript
03/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03170 Video Transcript
04/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W03170 and Nuhi Bytyci Video Transcript
05/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Nuhi Bytyci Video Transcript
06/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Nuhi Bytyci and Zoran Stanković Video Transcript
24/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Kurtesh Fondaj Video Transcript
25/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Kurtesh Fondaj Video Transcript
26/06/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Kurtesh Fondaj and W04846 Video Transcript
01/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
02/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
03/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
04/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Bislim Zyrapi and W04445 Video Transcript
08/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
09/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
10/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
11/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Bislim Zyrapi and W04501 Video Transcript
15/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
16/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
17/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
18/07/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Bislim Zyrapi Video Transcript
19/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Steven Russell Video Transcript
20/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Steven Russell and W03871 Video Transcript
21/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03871 Video Transcript
26/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Skender Zhitia Video Transcript
27/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04764 Video Transcript
28/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04764 and W03780 Video Transcript
29/08/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03780 Video Transcript
02/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Imer Imeri Video Transcript
03/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Rrustem Tetaj Video Transcript
04/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Rrustem Tetaj Video Transcript
16/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04737 Video Transcript
17/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04737 Video Transcript
18/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W04737 and W01129 Video Transcript
19/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses Halim Berisha and W04366 Video Transcript
23/09/2024 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Demush Krasniqi Video Transcript

 

Case information

Accused: 
Hashim Thaçi et al.
Case number: 
KSC-BC-2020-06
Case stage: 

Related Documents (Pre-trial)

Public Court Records