The legal battle involving four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) did not end with the September 16 verdict. The parties are now preparing their appeals, with November 27 set as the deadline to notify the court whether they intend to challenge the first-instance judgment.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers have clarified which issues can be examined at the appeals stage and outlined the next steps in the proceedings.
More than three weeks have passed since the Specialist Chambers delivered their verdict against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, as the deadline for filing an appeal notification approaches.
The parties were initially required to notify the court by mid-October whether they intended to appeal. However, following a request from the Defence teams, the Appeals Panel extended the deadline to November 27.
The request for an extension was justified by the complexity of the case and the fact that the Defence teams had not yet received the judgment translated into Albanian.
The Specialist Chambers told Kosovo’s public broadcaster RTK that, so far, no public filing indicates that any party has submitted a notice of appeal or specified which parts of the judgment it intends to challenge before the Appeals Panel.
According to the court, the formal appeals process begins with the submission of a notice of appeal.
“The Appeals Panel may consider appeals on various grounds, including alleged errors of law, errors of fact or errors in sentencing. During the appeals proceedings, the parties may request the admission of additional evidence, specifying the factual finding of the Trial Panel to which that evidence relates. The Appeals Panel may uphold, reverse or modify the first-instance judgment. In appropriate circumstances, it may also order a retrial before the Trial Panel,” the Specialist Chambers said.
The court added that proceedings could move more quickly if an appeal concerns only the sentences imposed.
Legal experts and observers of the proceedings have also discussed the challenges facing the four former KLA leaders as the case moves into the appeals phase.
Ehat Miftaraj of the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI) said the timeline would depend on how the Appeals Panel handles the case, particularly if it decides to reopen the proceedings.
“It depends on how the Appeals Court handles the case. If it decides to reopen the judicial proceedings, that could certainly take even longer. Based on decisions in previous cases, we suspect that a ruling by the Appeals Court may not come for another 12 to 18 months,” Miftaraj said.
Lawyer Arbër Jashari identified another potential challenge: the implementation of recent amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers.
“I see this law as very favourable, but implementing it will be a long and challenging process, given that the Specialist Chambers were established in partnership with the European Union. This issue also affects other parties, and Kosovo must find a way to reach an agreement and convince its international partners to support the changes,” Jashari said.
In its September 16 judgment, the court sentenced Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi to 25 years in prison each, Kadri Veseli to 18 years and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years.
The November 27 deadline marks the next significant step in the legal proceedings, as the parties prepare to determine whether and on what grounds they will challenge the first-instance verdict.
Source: RTK
