Live update

In the trial of Thaçi et al., the Defence of Hashim Thaçi commenced the presentation of its evidence this morning by calling its first witness. The witness is James Rubin, who, according to the Defence’s summary read in court, served as Assistant US Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Chief Spokesperson from 1997 to 2000. Representatives of the United States Government are present in the courtroom to accompany the witness.

Here is the transcript of today's KSC Weekly Press Briefing.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 11 September, at 14:30. During this briefing, the KSC Spokespersons will provide a short update on the latest developments in the judicial proceedings before the KSC, as well as on other public activities of the Court. Journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions. Pre-registration is required to attend each briefing. To pre-register, please send an email with name and affiliation to [email protected]. Deadline for pre-registration is every Thursday at 12:00. The Zoom details will be shared following pre-registration. Recordings of the update provided during the Weekly Press Briefings will be made available on the KSC YouTube Channel.

Here is the transcript of today's KSC Weekly Press Briefing.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 4 September, at 14:30. During this briefing, the KSC Spokespersons will provide a short update on the latest developments in the judicial proceedings before the KSC, as well as on other public activities of the Court. Journalists will have the opportunity to ask questions. Pre-registration is required to attend each briefing. To pre-register, please send an email with name and affiliation to [email protected]. Deadline for pre-registration is every Thursday at 12:00. The Zoom details will be shared following pre-registration. Recordings of the update provided during the Weekly Press Briefings will be made available on the KSC YouTube Channel.

On 2 September 2025, the Trial Panel in the case against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi issued a further order on the scheduling of the Defence case. The Panel set 14 November 2025 as the target date for the completion of the Defence cases of Thaçi and Krasniqi, or one week after the last Defence witness, whichever comes earlier. The Panel also informed all parties to be prepared to file their final briefs, as well as the statement on the impact of the alleged crimes on victims participating in the proceedings, before the start of the winter judicial recess on 22 December 2025. The decision also sets out additional deadlines and procedural directions for the remainder of the Defence case.

On 1 September 2025, the Court of Appeals Panel denied Isni Kilaj's appeal against the Pre-Trial Judge's decision ordering his continued detention, issued on 5 June this year. The panel’s decision is available here.

This is the fourth appeal by Kilaj against continued detention to be dismissed, both in the initial case before his release to Kosovo (KSC-BC-2018-01) and subsequently in the current case (KSC-BC-2023-12). See our previous posts: 11 January 2024;  26 February 2024; 28 January 2025.

Here is the transcript of today's KSC Weekly Press Briefing.

As previously reported, on 16 July, Trial Panel II rejected the joint Defence motion seeking dismissal of charges pursuant to Rule 130 of the Rules. At the status conference on 22 July, the Panel issued an oral order directing the Defence teams to make their motion public. A public redacted version of the motion is now available in our Public Court Records. The SPO response to the Rule 130 motion had already been reclassified as public pursuant to the same order and is also available.
 
These and other relevant filings, together with further information on this trial, can be found on the Thaçi et al. case page.

Here is the transcript of today's KSC Weekly Press Briefing.