The third witness for Kosovo’s former President, Hashim Thaci, in his war crimes and crimes against humanity trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, John Stewart Duncan, said the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, did not have a hierarchal structure, and the general commander, Agim Ceku, and the operational zone commanders had effective control.

“The power in the [KLA] military wing, those on the ground, was split between Agim Ceku and the zone commanders,” Stewart Duncan, former political advisor to the former NATO Supreme Commander for Europe, General Wesley Clark, told the court on Tuesday, explaining that Thaci and his co-defendant, former parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi, were part of the KLA political wing.

“Mr Krasniqi and Mr Thaci never went into military matters, they only talked about political matters. Equally, Ceku only talked about military matters,” he noted, explaining how he had distinguished between the military and political representatives.

He described the KLA as having around 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers who had joined from different backgrounds, not necessarily a military one. He said it was “not a hierarchical organisation where people do what they are told [but] an organisation which had more complex power structures”.

On Monday, the same witness had explained that NATO invited the high commanders of the KLA to reach a demilitarization agreement with General Clark, adding that, “that was the difficulty we were facing there, because they didn’t have a hierarchical structure. They were organised differently.

“We couldn’t just go and talk to Thaci or Ceku and think that would solve the problem. Things didn’t work that way. We had to talk to people who had authority, and they were the commanders of the zones,” the witness said during the questioning.

He added that “the real power in the KLA structure was held by the KLA regional commanders and this was confirmed to us when we met General Agim Ceku at the beginning of the [demilitarization] agreement negotiations”.

On Tuesday, he explained that although Thaci signed the demilitarization agreement in June 1999, that did not mean he had “command and control” over the KLA.

“Thaci had command but not control; he could issue instructions,” but not necessarily ensure their implementation, the witness explained. He added that the agreement was a “comprehensible” one, meaning that “all the actors in the process had an interest [in it], not because he [Thaci] had command and control, but because they all had an interest”.

Thaci was indicted in October 2020 and resigned as Kosovo President in November 2020 to face the charges and was sent to The Hague with Krasniqi, and former parliament speaker Kadri Veseli, and former MP Rexhep Selimi. They have been in detention ever since.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers are part of Kosovo’s justice system but are based in The Hague with an international staff to ensure fair proceedings after witness intimidation problems in previous KLA-related cases. Many ethnic Albanians and KLA supporters insist that the proceedings have been unfair to the defendants.

Many prosecution witnesses have testified behind closed doors to protect their identities due to fears of reprisals, but this has led to allegations of a lack of transparency. The court has told BIRN that Thaci will call 11 witnesses, while former speaker Krasniqi will call two. The judging panel has set November 14 as an estimated closing date for the defence case. After closing statements, the panel has 90 days to consider its verdict, suggesting that it may be delivered in spring 2026.