The defense attorney of Rexhep Selimi continued his closing arguments at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, addressing the claims made by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (ZPS) regarding alleged control over a so-called “UÇK police.”
The lawyer stressed that the argument presented by the ZPS is an attempt to create a false impression that Selimi controlled a police force, which, according to the defense, is entirely unfounded.
“Three main points regarding Mr. Selimi. First, I will address the ZPS’s claims about Mr. Selimi as Minister of Public Order. Second, I will discuss various handwriting issues allegedly linked to him. Third, I will cover Rule 140 exclusions in parts of the ZPS’s case file,” the lawyer said.
On the question of control over the police, he emphasized:
“The term ‘UÇK police’ is a ZPS construct designed to group evidence in a way that gives the false impression that a police force existed under Mr. Selimi as Minister of Public Order. This is an attempt by the prosecution to mislead, and this argument does not hold.”
He further clarified that the UÇK military police was never under Selimi’s command:
“After June 1999, the UÇK and its military police remained under the command and structures of local zone commanders, not under Mr. Selimi. As we have stated in our final submissions, the UÇK military police stayed within the UÇK structures and the control of zone commanders, not Selimi. There was no such ‘UÇK police,’ nor any Public Order Ministry force organized or overseen by Selimi as the ZPS claims.”
