Hashim Thaçi

Rrustem Mustafa, former commander of Kosovo Liberation Army's wartime Llap Operational Zone, also known by the nom de guerre Remi, told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague this week in the trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants that the guerrilla force mainly functioned from the bottom up and did not have a fully-established chain of command.

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci's defence lawyer Gregory Kehoe told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers at a status conference in the trial on Tuesday "there is no tribunal that has put measures" in place for witness protection like the ones being imposed at his client's trial in The Hague.

They are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
So far, seven prosecution witnesses have been heard in the trial against the leader of the former KLA. They are accused of murder, persecution and torture.
All four defendants pleaded not guilty to any of the counts of the indictment.

However, in what is seen as an attempt to make the proceedings more efficient and limit costs, because hundreds of victims are expected to participate in the trials at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the court has not given the victims the right to choose their own legal representatives.

The seventh witness in the war crimes and crimes against humanity trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other former guerrilla leaders told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Tuesday that he suffered psychologically after he was injured by KLA fighters.

The fifth witness in the war crimes and crimes against humanity trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three others told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Monday that masked men wearing Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA emblems kidnapped three people and murdered one of them.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday refused to accept a draft statute for the establishment of an Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities to represent Serbs' interests in Kosovo, claiming it would establish an entity like Bosnia and Herzegovina's Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, whose leaders have repeatedly challenged the legitimacy of their state.

The first witness of the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor's Office in the trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and his three co-defendants was heard this week in the Hague in closed sessions - after the prosecution requested protection of the identity of the witness.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told RTS that Kosovo will be part of Serbia in four years, before the end of his term. In an interview with Serbian national television, he commented on the negotiations with Pristina, the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities and the "Open Balkans" initiative.

Throughout the opening day on Monday, Albanians wearing the traditional plis cap or T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Liria ka emer" ("Freedom has a name") made their voices heard in the Dutch city as opening statements were delivered in the trial of Thaci and his wartime comrades turned politicians, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.