The defense of former President Hashim Thaçi has rejected claims that he sought to take control of Kosovo.
Thaçi’s lawyer, Nina Tavakoli, stated that in his capacity as Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, Thaçi did not possess real power.
“He could not sign any meaningful commitments on behalf of Kosovars in his role as Prime Minister,” she said, recalling the testimony of former British diplomat John Stewart Duncan, who stated that Thaçi was not able to sign the KLA demilitarization agreement as Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.
“Prime Minister was a title; it was not a mechanism through which the Joint Criminal Enterprise [a term used by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in the indictment to refer to the accused and certain former KLA commanders] could be implemented,” she added.
Tavakoli explained that in the early days of UNMIK’s establishment, Thaçi had initially competed with the mission for authority, but later accepted the administration’s authority and cooperated with it.
She questioned how Thaçi could have intended to take control of Kosovo when he had agreed to the demilitarization of the KLA, accepted cooperation with UNMIK, and acknowledged his electoral defeat in the post-war period until winning the elections in 2007.
The hearing is currently on a lunch break. /RFE/RL
