James ‘Jock’ Covey, the fourth witness for the defence of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci in his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague, told the court this week that Thaci was not a fighter but a politician who had called out ethnic-based violence in post-war Kosovo.

Covey was deputy to the UN representative in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, from July 15, 1999 to January 2001, just after the war ended. On Wednesday, Covey told the court that “our judgment was quite clear that this person standing next to us [Thaci] was not a fighter and I do not believe there is any evidence that this man ever fired a bullet as a result of boredom or anger”.

During questioning on Thursday, he said that Thaci “walked on eggshells when any relationship with leaders of the [Kosovo Liberation Army] KLA movement were concerned”.

Covey added that this judgment was based on Thaci’s “demeanour, because [his] dignity would not permit someone to say that [that they were afraid]; we felt we could see it, smell it”.

On Tuesday, Covey told the court that the KLA’s commanders in the guerrilla force’s various battlefield zones around the country did not respect Thaci, and the UN interim mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, “didn’t treat him as a commander”.

The former UN official recalled that Thaci constantly called for an end to violence among ethnic communities, unrelated to the arrival of international forces after Serbian troops withdrew from Kosovo when the war ended.

Covey told the court that none of the crimes allegedly committed by KLA fighters against those they saw as collaborators with Serbia “are directly related to Mr Thaci”. He also said Thaci did not use crimes committed individually or by other members of KLA for his political benefit.

“We quickly came to the conclusion that he didn’t have the personal authority to make someone else do that [commit such crimes]. Furthermore, I and we came to the conclusion that he knew he didn’t have that authority and that power,” the witness said.

Like several other witnesses who have testified before the court, Covey also said the KLA did not have a centralized army structure. The defence is seeking to prove that Thaci and his co-defendants, as senior KLA figures, could not have ordered fighters to commit crimes as the guerrilla force did not function with a top-down hierarchy,

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 former parliament speakers Jakup Krasniqi and Kadri Veseli, and former MP Rexhep Selimi. They have been in detention ever since.

The four are charged with individual and command responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Kosovo war, including the murder of about 100 persons. They have all pleaded not guilty.

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.