The Office of the Specialist Prosecutor (SPO) in The Hague said it will investigate and prosecute all those who intimidate or interfere with witnesses, or “provide financial or other support for such criminal acts.”

Reaction of this office comes after the court in the case against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selim, has approved the measures, requested by the prosecution, that limit the communications of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in the Detention Center in The Hague .

The restriction, according to the prosecution, came as a response to “threats to the integrity of the process”.

“The SPO took this step as a response to the attempts to interfere with the witnesses and prevent their testimony, and further threats to the integrity of the process in the Thaçi and others court case”, declared the SPO through a press release.

According to the prosecution, the three accused used the non-privileged visits “to illegally distribute confidential information and, in the case of Thaçi, to repeatedly instruct the visitors to seek to manipulate the testimony of witnesses.”

The request for restriction of communications was directed by the specialized prosecutor weeks ago, while the court made a temporary decision on November 17 of this year.

Regarding this issue, the court published the last decision on December 1.

What did the jury decide?

The panel, chaired by Charles Smith, ruled on December 1, 2023 that non-privileged visits in person for the three accused will be subject to prior approval by the registrar.

The panel ruled that “where necessary, the Secretary must consult with the SPO to determine whether there are indications that a particular individual has engaged in or may engage in conduct inconsistent with his/her request for a non- privileged to one of the accused”.

In the decision, it is stated that the accused can contest before the Panel the decision to refuse a visit, within seven days from the notification of refusal.

“The Panel orders that the Registry Office ensure that: (i) The three accused shall not have more than one visitor at any one time (except for visits by spouses/partners and children who may visit jointly but without the presence of any other visitor); (ii) the visit area will be free of music or other loud noises that may impair hearing communication; (iii) the only detainee with whom a visitor comes into contact is the detainee with whom he [the visitor] is authorized to visit; detainees should not join the visits of other detainees; (iv) detainees shall not have a non-privileged personal visitor at the same time as another detainee or within such close proximity that the visitors may have an opportunity to interact with each other or with other detainees,” the decision.

The trial panel decided that the accused cannot enter the visiting room with documents or materials of a confidential nature.

Also, it was decided that all detainees and visitors must communicate by voice and the same are not allowed to communicate secretly through whispers or coded language.

Such actions by the accused would cause the premature termination of the visit.

The trial panel emphasized that only the lawyers or co-lawyers of the accused have the right to privileged visits. Meanwhile, visits by other members of the defense team, where they are not accompanied by counsel or co-counsel, are not privileged and are subject to restrictions, including the approval of the register.

“The additional measures requested by the SPO regarding restrictions on visits with members of the defense team are disproportionate to the risk involved. The panel has no information before it that would justify such measures. The Panel notes, moreover, that such measures, if granted, may have a detrimental effect on the defense’s ability to prepare. Therefore, the Panel refuses to approve at this stage the other measures requested by the SPO in relation to visits by members of the defense team”, the decision states.

Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi have been in custody since November 2020.

The trial against them started in April of this year and so far 37 prosecution witnesses have testified, while in total, the SPO has warned for over 300 witnesses in this judicial process.

The prosecution accuses the former leaders of the KLA of murder, torture and forced disappearance, while all of them have denied the charges.

Processes against the administration of justice are also taking place in this court, for which two guilty verdicts have been announced so far.

During this year, Special has carried out raids in Kosovo, some of them in the properties of Thaçi’s former advisors. The SPO announced that the operations were carried out in an investigative process that focuses on criminal offenses against the administration of justice.

The court in The Hague was created following a 2011 Council of Europe report that contained allegations of organ trafficking.

The establishment of this institution was then made by the Assembly of Kosovo in August 2015, while the first indictments were confirmed in the second half of 2020.

The indictment against the former leaders of the KLA does not include the accusations of organ trafficking.