Trial begins for obstruction of justice against Thaçi

Smakaj and Kilaj's lawyers deny the ZPS's claims

Bashkim Smakaj's lawyer, Jonathan Rees, and Isni Kilaj's lawyer, Ian Edwards, have denied the ZPS's claims that they received instructions from Hashim Thaçi during their meetings in The Hague regarding witnesses. 

Rees said that Smakaj never spoke to Bislim Zyrap about his testimony in the case filed for war crimes and crimes against humanity against four former KLA leaders. 

Regarding the document that the SPO showed and said it found in Smakaj's car, Rees stressed that there is no evidence that the document was in his car or who brought it there. He added that the SPO has not provided evidence as to who printed that document titled "for lawyers" at the detention center in The Hague. 

Meanwhile, Edwards said that Kilaj spoke with Thaçi about life, the KLA, and as two old friends. 

"There is no evidence that he did anything based on his visit to The Hague," Edwards stressed.  
 

The SPO shows photographs from Kilaj and Smakaj claiming they contained instructions from Thaçi

The prosecution has shown a photograph of a torn document that was found in Isni Kilaj's apartment in Kosovo, and Bashkim Smakaj also showed another one in his car. 

The prosecution has said that the document seized from Kilaj is precisely the part and page that Hashim Thaçi said the witness should have changed. 

Even in Smakaj's document, the Prosecution claimed that it contained instructions given by Thaçi.

In it, the Prosecution said it highlighted "aspects that minimize Thaçi's leading role in the KLA." 

“The evidence shows that members of each of the Fazliu, Smakaj, Kilaj groups, led by Thaçi, intentionally participated in a group whose effort was to obstruct the targeted witnesses of Case 6 [the case for war crimes and crimes against humanity]. There is no doubt, the accused knew what they were doing and knew that it was a criminal offense,” said one of the specialized prosecutors.
The SPO ultimately requested the conviction of the accused. 
 

ZPS: We have nine audio recordings of Thaçi in the detention center in The Hague

Prosecutor Joshua Hafetz said there is ample evidence against Thaçi and the defendants, including nine audio recordings at the detention center in The Hague, phone calls, court orders that were allegedly violated, and expertise proving that the documents found in Kosovo were printed from the printer Thaçi used in The Hague.

During the session, an audio recording of Thaçi and Fazliu at their meeting on July 2, 2023 in The Hague was also shown.

The prosecution said they were talking about Commander Remi's testimony.

"Say it briefly, yes, no, don't philosophize," Thaçi is heard saying in this audio recording.

Later, he says he will testify briefly, not for 12 hours as planned. "Shortly, not for 12 hours, because 12 hours without slipping somewhere is not enough," Thaçi said, according to the ZPS audio recording.

The ZPS also showed messages between Mustafa and Fazliu, which they exchanged upon Fazliu's return to Kosovo, where they had met.

The Prosecution publishes parts of the audio recordings of Thaçi's meeting with Kilaj and Kryeziu

The prosecution released an audio recording that it claimed was from the October 6 meeting at the detention center in The Hague between Thaçi, Kilaj, and Vllaznim Kryeziu.

The SPO said that Thaçi there gives instructions to Kilaj and Kryeziu as witness 4 – a protected witness of the SPO – to change parts of his testimony.

"Page 7, section 6, line 9," Thaçi is heard saying, the Prosecution claimed, adding that these parts should have been "corrected" by this witness before appearing in court, namely during the preparatory session with the SPO.

ZPS: Thaçi's instructions targeted specific witnesses

Prosecutor Joshua Hafetz, at the beginning of his speech, showed fragments of conversations recorded in The Hague, during Hashim Thaçi's meetings with his visitors, including some of the accused, where he claimed that he attempted to influence witnesses.

"The SPO will show that Thaçi's instructions had a target: the target was specific witnesses whose testimony, according to Thaçi, constituted a threat," he said, adding that the aim was to avoid this threat, Radio Free Europe reported. 

According to him, Thaçi's motive was that he "if found guilty" in the war crimes case, "will be sentenced to a long prison sentence" and therefore, according to the ZPS, he used ways to interfere with justice.

“The evidence will show that as soon as the [war crimes] case began, Thaçi focused on obstructing the testimony of witnesses who could harm his defense. Thaçi had two types of witnesses. The first were KLA insiders, who Thaçi specifically identified, who he thought were crucial in his trial, who should speak about the structure of the KLA and Thaçi’s leadership role. The second type were victim witnesses who could implicate him,” the prosecutor said.

Hafetz claimed that the charges against Fadil Fazliu relate to the instructions he received and conveyed to Rrustem Mustafa - Remi, on how to testify in The Hague during Thaçi's trial.

Fazliu had visited Thaçi in detention in July 2023. According to the ZPS, upon learning when Thaçi would testify in The Hague, Remi, as a witness for the ZPS, Fazliu's son contacted Remi and then he met with the accused.

"Three days later, Fazliu went and met with Thaçi in The Hague and the visit was recorded," the prosecutor said.

Five days after the ZPS announced the witness for June 26, Fazliu's son contacted Remi to meet Fadil Fazliu in Kosovo. Three days later, Fazliu went to meet Thaçi in The Hague, and the visit was recorded based on a court order.

"During the visit he spoke about Remi's testimony and said that his testimony was decisive and that he would set the precedent for subsequent witnesses who would follow him, saying what Thaçi told him in detail about how Mustafa's testimony should be, what he should say, so that Remi would return to Kosovo 'either as a hero or as a disgraced man'. Thaçi ordered Fazliu to give these instructions to Mustafa before he testified in The Hague," the prosecutor said, adding that Fazliu agreed and even contributed to what Mustafa should say.

Meanwhile, Hajredin Kuçi, he said, spoke with Thaçi about influencing two witnesses and a victim.

On September 3, 2023, in The Hague, Thaçi and Kuçi discussed three witnesses, the Prosecution alleged. Two of them were former KLA members, including Zyrap, and the third was a person who would testify about alleged mistreatment by the KLA, the SPO said.

Thaçi, the SPO said, instructed how they were to testify. The SPO said there is evidence that supports all counts of the indictment.

During the hearing, the prosecutor said that during the visit to The Hague, Isni Kilaj had received instructions on how Witness 4 should change his testimony.

This witness was a victim, "who had previously implicated Thaçi regarding the mistreatment he had suffered at the hands of KLA members."

Kilaj, the Prosecution said, took notes during the meeting in The Hague.

"Thaci underlined the line and page of the witness's preliminary testimony, exactly what he should have changed," the prosecutor claimed.

During two visits to the detention center in The Hague, Smakaj, the Prosecution said, received instructions from Thaçi on how to influence witnesses.

One of them was identified as Bislim Zyrapi. The prosecutor said Thaçi provided details on how the former KLA Chief of Staff, Zyrapi – a prosecution witness – would testify.

“[Thaci] gave instructions on how to give evidence, that he had to be concise, not to talk too much,” he said, adding that Thaci had given confidential information about protected witnesses and claiming that he had “made fun of two of them, and one of them was disabled.”/ REL

Those accused of obstruction of justice plead not guilty again

Hashim Thaçi

Photo: Associated Press

The opening statement session in the case for obstruction of justice against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, former Minister of Justice Hajredin Kuçi, former head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency Bashkim Smakaj, former mayor of Malisheva Isni Kilaj, and KLA veteran Fadil Fazliu has begun in The Hague.

The judge took turns asking the defendants - who had previously pleaded not guilty - to indicate whether they understood the indictment and whether they were guilty or not.

They again pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor said that Thaçi is responsible for attempting to obstruct officials in the performance of official duties, violating the secrecy of the procedure and disobeying the court. For Smakaj, the prosecution said that he is responsible for the criminal offense of attempting to obstruct officials in the performance of official duties and disobeying the court. Kilaj, Fazliu are also charged with the same charges, while Kuçi is charged with two counts of the criminal offense of disobeying the court.

Chief Prosecutor Kimberly West said Thaçi and the four other defendants had “undermined” the Special Court. She added that the defendants “deliberately violated court decisions designed to ensure that witnesses and victims can testify freely, without fear or influence, and have
the belief that their identities and words will remain confidential to the court and the parties. 

"Former President Thaçi is accused of repeatedly and systematically attempting to interfere with witness testimony, by giving instructions on how witnesses should testify in the other court case against him for war crimes, and by violating a number of court orders aimed at protecting confidential information regarding witnesses. His co-defendants – Bashkim Smakaj, Isni Kilaj, Fadil Fazliu and Hajredin Kuçi – are accused of unlawful participation in one or more of these criminal offenses," she stressed.