Live update

On 22 March 2022, the Court of Appeals Panel denied the appeals by Thaci and Veseli, filed on 21 February 2022, against the decision of the Pre-Trial Judge, from 23 December 2021, partially granting the SPO leave to amend the indictment in this case. The decision of the Court of Appeals Panel is available in the Public Court Records.

The first witness of the Mustafa Defence is Brahim Mehmetaj.

Salih Mustafa’s Defence completed its opening statement. The hearing is adjourned for today and the trial will resume tomorrow, 23 March, with the testimony of the first Defence witness.

The Defence of Salih Mustafa has commenced with its opening statement.

As per submission by the Victim’s Counsel, the Panel in the Mustafa trial, in its oral order today, decided to reconsider its previous order from 9 March 2022 regarding the appointment of the Dutch Forensic Institute to assess the medical conditions of three victims in this case. The Panel decided to appoint The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights and Medical Examination (“Instituut voor Mensenrechten en Medisch Onderzoek”- IMMO) to conduct the aforementioned medical assessment instead of the previously assigned Netherland Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (“Nederlands Instituut voor Forensische Psychiatrie en Psychologie” – NIFP). The scope and the deadline for the report remain unchanged. Today’s hearing is adjourned and the trial will resume tomorrow, 22 March, at 09:30, with the Defence’s opening statement.

Victim’s Counsel is currently making her submissions in the Mustafa trial. After that, victim 05 will present his views and concerns before the Panel (which will be conducted mostly in private session).

SPO presented its submissions on the sentencing for Gucati and Haradinaj seeking the conviction on all counts whereas the Defence sought acquittals for both accused, who also addressed the court today. The closing statements in this case are completed, which marks the end of this trial. The Panel will render its judgment in due course. The hearing scheduled for tomorrow, 18 March, is cancelled.

The Panel in the Gucati&Haradinaj case reopened the proceedings for the sole purpose of admitting certain statements submitted by the Defence. These are a number of witness statements the Panel decided to admit under Rule 153 of the Rules for the exclusive purpose of sentencing, should the Panel enter a conviction on any of the counts of the Indictment.

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 17 March, 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.

The Haradinaj Defence is now making its closing statement.