Lawyer Ardian Bajraktari said that in the case of the trial of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who are being tried in The Hague by the Special Court, in addition to other violations throughout this process, the fact that they continue to remain in pre-trial detention remains a concern.
According to Bajraktari, at least from the beginning of April last year, when the Prosecution's witness list was completed, they should have been released from this measure and waited for the final decision with their families.
On the show "60 Minutes" on KTV, Bajraktari stated that this decision should be acquittal.
September 16th has been set as the date for the announcement of the verdict in the case against four former KLA leaders, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi. Previously, the final date by which the verdict was expected was July 20th.
"Neither in the law nor in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, a practice that is directly applicable in our justice system, within which the Special Court is also part, such decisions have no basis (the measure of pre-trial detention vj). Under normal circumstances, the KLA foursome would have to wait for the decision with their families. This decision should have been acquittal because the prosecution's claim was not substantiated," said Bajraktari.
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Bajraktari assessed that with the conclusion of the court process against the KLA four, the work of the Special Investigation Team against KLA members should also be completed.
"During the trial of the former KLA leaders, other KLA members have also been invited, sometimes as witnesses and sometimes as suspects. I believe that this will be the end of the process, the end of what the Special Court was established for, despite the fact that even before its launch it deviated from its purpose and idea. The main goal was to shed light on the allegations of the so-called Dick Marty report, which later became a Council of Europe resolution, and whose epicenter was the Yellow House, namely organ trafficking, which was madness to think that such actions were committed at that time," said the lawyer.
Lawyer Bajraktari recalled that the former leaders of the KLA were detained from November 2020 to early April 2023, and during that period, several so-called status hearings were held, which were innovations within this Court.
According to Bajraktari, "this was perhaps the first concern raised that this court also has implications for external factors."
The trial of the former KLA leaders began on 3 April 2023 with the opening statement of the Specialist Prosecutor's Office (SPO). The SPO concluded its presentation of evidence on 15 April 2025. The Victims' Defense, representing 156 participating victims, began presenting its evidence in July 2025, while the defense teams of Thaçi and Krasniqi presented their evidence between September and December 2025.
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The Trial Panel concluded the evidence presentation phase on December 18, 2025. 134 witnesses testified in this case, 125 called by the Prosecution, two called by the Victims' Protection and seven called by the Defense teams. Closing statements were held from February 9 to 18, 2026.
Their trial process has also been assessed by international experts as having violations, starting with the prolonged detention measure.
