Live update

Following the Panel’s decision to give additional time to the Defence to make submissions on the proposed tendered evidence by the SPO in relation to the current witness, the trial in the Thaci et al. case has adjourned for today. It will resume tomorrow, 25 February, at 09:00, when the cross-examination of witness Ismet Tara by the Defence is expected to commence.

Ismet Tara is the new SPO witness, whose testimony commenced this morning. This is the 123^rd SPO witness in court so far.

On 19 February 2025, KSC President Trendafilova decided to modify the sentences for Sabit Januzi and Ismet Bahtijari and provide for their release about 21 February, under certain conditions. More details in the press release as well as in the President’s decisions (Januzi; Bahtijari).

Following the Panel’s ruling in the Januzi et al. case on 4 February, KSC Registrar informed that the total amount of reparations (500 EUR) has been transferred to Victim 1 within the designated timeframe. More details in the Registrar’s Report.

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

Another KSC weekly press briefing will take place on Thursday, 20 February, 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 18 February, KSC President Trendafilova assigned  Judge Gilbert Bitti as Single Judge to continue overseeing the execution of the Reparation order against Salih Mustafa, as it still remains to be fully implemented. As was the case last time, the Single Judge is assigned for the period of one year and he will receive reports from the Registrar on any action taken before the Crime Victim Compensation Program in Kosovo.

During the status conference in the Thaçi et al. case today, the SPO announced that they currently anticipate calling two witnesses in court next week and one witness in March. They will inform about any additional witnesses or changes to their witness list in due course. The SPO also announced their intention to close their case on 15 April, with no more witnesses expected after 4 April.

The parties also discussed other matters, such as the additional bar table motions and the potential Rule 130 requests by the Defence.

This was the last hearing this week. The Thaçi et al. trial will resume on Monday, 24 February, with a regular hearing scheduled to begin at 09:00.

The testimony of witness W04491 was completed this afternoon, and this was the last witness for this week. As announced by the Panel, the parties will meet for a status conference at 09:00 tomorrow, 19 February, to discuss the next steps in the proceedings.

Witness W04491 is the new SPO witness, whose testimony commenced this morning. According to the SPO, this witness, along with another person, was arrested by KLA members in July 1998 and subsequently detained and mistreated at two locations.