Live update

On 27 February, the Trial Panel in the Thaçi et al. case issued its decision on Rexhep Selimi’s request for a judicial review of the latest decisions by the Registrar regarding his visits and communication in the KSC Detention Facilities.

Among its findings, the Panel determined that the Registrar's decision to actively monitor certain telephone calls was within her authority as well as necessary and proportionate, thus rejecting Selimi's request for its reversal. However, the Panel reversed the decision to deny a phone call to the accused and ordered the Registrar not to deny such calls unless new circumstances so demand.

The Panel dismissed, as moot, Selimi's requests regarding certain video and private visits, as the dates for those visits have already passed.

More details can be found in the actual decision.

Protected witness W01140 is the new SPO witness, whose testimony commenced this morning and is conducted via video-link. According to the summary read by the SPO, this witness was a resident of Prizren, who was taken and detained by KLA members in June 1999.

On 26 February, the Court of Appeals Panel denied the appeal by Isni Kilaj against the latest Single Judge’s decision ordering his continued detention. More details in the decision (public redacted version) of the Court of Appeals Panel.

Today’s hearing is adjourned while the one, previously scheduled for tomorrow (27 February), is cancelled. The trial in the Thaçi et al. case will resume on Wednesday, 28 February, at 09:00.

Due to the inability of the next witness to testify today, the afternoon’s session in the Thaçi et al. trial will be dedicated to procedural matters and is expected to last shorter than usual.

Protected witness W02749 started giving testimony in the Thaçi et al. trial this morning. According to the summary read by the SPO in court, the witness was a resident of Prizren, who was taken and detained by KLA members in June 1999.

Following the completion of the testimony of the SPO witness Hajrush Kurtaj, the trial in the case of Thaçi et al. has adjourned for today and for the week. This trial will resume on Monday, 26 February, at 09:00.

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

On 20 February 2024, the KSC Registrar terminated the services of the duty counsel and appointed Julius von Bóné as the lead counsel for Salih Mustafa, who had already been represented by him during the trial and the appeal phases. Here is the Registrar’s notification.

See our recent posts about the assignment of counsel to Mustafa: 25/01/2024; 30/01/2024; 08/02/2024

This morning, the Defence of Hashim Thaçi continued its cross examination of the 45th SPO witness Hajrush Kurtaj.