Over 10 million euros is the amount that the state of Kosovo has spent so far for the protection of those accused of war crimes, who are facing justice in the Specialized Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
From 2020 until April of this year, the fixed amount spent on the 8 lawyers of the accused is 10,022,760 euros, the Ministry of Justice announced for "The Oath of Justice".
The Special Court was established in August 2015, after the deputies of Kosovo had approved the constitutional amendment, namely the new article 162 of the Constitution of Kosovo, with two-thirds (2/3) of the votes of the deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo, as well as the Law for the Specialized Chambers and the Specialized Prosecutor's Office (ZPS), with 71 votes of Kosovo deputies.
The court proceedings at the court began in 2021. Former political leaders of the country, who held leading positions during the last war in Kosovo, have also ended up as accused persons.
Hashi Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi are being accused by the ZPS that between March 1998 and September 1999, they committed the crimes of persecution, imprisonment, arbitrary or illegal arrest and detention, other inhumane acts, cruel treatment, torture, killing and forced disappearance of persons who were considered opponents.
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In 2023, over 8 million euros were paid from the state budget for the protection of the accused from the Special
The other accused, Salih Mustafa, is facing charges of arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and unlawful killing as war crimes committed in the context of, or in connection with, the non-international armed conflict in Kosovo. The accused Pjetër Shala is also being tried by this court for war crimes.
Meanwhile, Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj were charged with obstruction of the administration of justice, who were also found guilty of these criminal acts, being sentenced to 4 and a half years of imprisonment and a fine of 100 euros.
Referring to the official answer received by the MD-ka, it results that from the budget guaranteed by law until now, the most funds have been allocated for the protection of Rexhep Selim, a total of 1.54 million euros. At least the defense of the accused Shala was paid, a total of 390 euros.
For the defender of the accused Salih Mustafa, from October 2020 to December 2021, it turns out that 893 thousand euros have been spent, while for 2022, 284 thousand euros have been spent so far.
Meanwhile, 2020 million euros have been spent for the defender of the accused Jakup Krasniqi from November 2021 to December 1.24, while for 2022, 273 thousand euros have been spent so far.
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For eight months, over 5 million euros were spent from the state budget for the protection of the accused from the Special
For the period November 2020 - December 2021, 1.17 million euros were spent on Selim's defender, while 364 thousand euros were spent this year.
For the defender of Gucat in the period October 2020 - December 2021, 1.13 million euros were spent, while in 2022, 324 thousand euros.
2020 million euros were spent on Thaçi's defender in the period December 2021-December 1.11, while in 2022, another 271 thousand.
From February 2021 until the end of that year, 854 thousand euros were spent on the defender of Veseli, while in 2022 another 380 thousand euros were spent.
From November 2021, 130 euros have been spent on the defender of the accused Pjeter Shala, while for 2022, 260 euros have been spent so far.
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Legal protection of the accused of the Special: 5.4 million euros for one year
The coverage of these expenses in the address of the accused of the Special is made in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1 of Law no. 05/l-054 for the legal protection and financial support of potential accused persons in judicial proceedings before the Specialized Chambers.
According to Article 3.1 of this law, it is determined that "All accused persons have the right to request assistance in covering the costs of defense and the engagement of an independent defender, with experience and competence, which are paid by the Budget of Kosovo, allocated for the purposes of this Law".
