"I am completely innocent", the first trial session for former KLA leaders begins in The Hague

2023-04-03 10:14:16Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

"I am completely innocent", the first trial session for former KLA

"I understand the indictment, I am completely innocent", said former president and former prime minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi in The Hague. 

The same thing that the other three defendants Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi have stated when they were asked by the judge.

The first court session has started in the Specialized Chambers. The Specialized Prosecutor will have a maximum of five hours to defend the case.

Since November 2020, the former leaders of the KLA, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, are in custody in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Specialized Chambers and the Office of the Specialized Prosecutor of Kosovo, with headquarters in The Hague, were created after the vote in 2015 by the deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo.

This institution, also known as the Special Court, investigates alleged crimes committed by KLA members against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.

In the indictment of the Specialized Prosecutor against the former leaders of the KLA, 40 locations where crimes were allegedly committed are mentioned.

Also, it mentions more than 400 people who are suspected of being detained illegally, 102 killed and 20 missing.

 


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