Closing Statements in Thaçi et al. War Crimes Case

From 9 to 13, 16 and 18 February, the closing statements in the trial of Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi will take place before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. The hearings are scheduled to begin at 9:00 and end at 16:30. They can be followed online in the three languages of the court, Albanian, Serbian and English, via the streaming function on the KSC website, with a 45-minute delay, or from the public gallery.

Due to the high interest in attending the hearings on these days, pre-registration is required to attend the hearings from the public gallery at the premises in The Hague. To pre-register, please send an email to [email protected] with your name and indicate for which dates you want to pre-register. Journalists should mention the media outlet they represent and indicate if they also need seats in the media center.  

Please note that your seat on the public gallery and in the media center is confirmed only once you receive a confirmation email. Confirmation emails will be sent latest on Thursday, 5 February. 

Please note that the deadline to pre-register is 17:30 (CET) on Friday 30 January.

For persons attending the hearing in the public gallery, please kindly be aware of the Rules of Conduct at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

Agenda Closing Statements

The below agenda derives from the Trial Panel’s Notice Regarding the Close of Evidentiary Proceedings from 18 December 2025. This agenda is based on current estimates and may vary, for example If a party needs less time than anticipated.

Case History

The initial indictment against the four accused was confirmed on 26 October 2020, and amended on 3 September 2021, 29 April 2022, and 30 September 2022. A lesser redacted version of the indictment was filed on 27 February 2023. This is the operative indictment in this case. 

Each of the accused is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility with six counts of crimes against humanity: persecution, imprisonment, other Inhumane acts, torture, murder, and enforced disappearance of persons. Each of the accused is also charged with four counts of war crimes: illegal and arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture, and murder.

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 Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) against hundreds of civilians and persons not taking part in hostilities. The indictment alleges that Messrs 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.

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

The trial started on 3 April 2023 with the Opening Statement of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO). The SPO closed their case on 15 April 2025. Victims’ Counsel, representing the 155 participating victims, presented their case in July 2025 and the Thaçi and Krasniqi Defence presented their cases between September and December 2025. The Trial Panel closed the evidentiary proceedings on 19 December 2025. 134 witnesses have testified in court in this case, 125 called by the Prosecution, two called by Victims’ Counsel and seven called by the defence. An additional 164 witness statements have been admitted in written form only.   

After the closing statements, the Panel will enter into deliberations to reach a judgment. The judgement should be pronounced within 90 days of the closing of the case. Where the circumstances require additional time, a further extension of 60 days is possible.

The date and time for all scheduled public hearings can be found on the court calendar on the website of the KSC. Any eventual changes to the scheduled hearings announced in this advisory will be reflected in the calendar. Recordings of public hearings are made available on the KSC YouTube channel.