Kosovo’s Thaci Challenges War Crime Indictment at Hague Court

Hashim Thaci's defence has filed a motion calling on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague to dismiss the indictment charging him with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and claiming that the court has exceeded its jurisdiction.

"The prosecution of Hashim Thaci violates his right to a fair and impartial public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law…. It also violates his right to be presumed innocent," said the motion, which was made public on Friday.

The defence argued that "the gravity and cumulative nature of these violations mean that such a legal impediment to jurisdiction exists, warranting a dismissal of the charges and release of Mr Thaci".

The indictment in the case alleges that Thaci and three other former Kosovo politicians, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, committed war crimes and crimes against humanity when they were senior figures in the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA in the late 1990s.

They are accused of having been part of a "joint criminal enterprise" that aimed to take control over Kosovo during the war "by means including unlawfully intimidating, mistreating, committing violence against, and removing those deemed to be opponents". They have all pleaded not guilty.

In another motion, a redacted version if which was made public on Friday, Thaci's defence asked the pre-trial judge to order the prosecution to further clarify the charges against Thaci or to "reduce, narrow or remove the offending charges".

The defence criticised what it described as the prosecution's failure to provide information about the identities of alleged perpetrators by referring to them as "KLA members", and also about the identities of the...