Thaci to be interviewed in the Hague on July 13

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has confirmed that he will travel to the Hague to be interviewed by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.

In a Facebook post published on Wednesday evening, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci announced that he will travel to the Hague on July 13 to be interviewed by the Kosovo Special Prosecutor’s Office, SPO. 

Thaci joins a long list of Kosovo political figures to be interviewed by the SPO in recent years, including Kadri Veseli, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned last July after being summoned to the court.

“In the last two years, many former co-combatants have been interviewed by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, inside and outside of Kosovo,” Thaci stated on Wednesday. “Dear citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, I would like to share with you that on Monday I will also travel to The Hague, invited by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, to be interviewed.”

Thaci called for unity within the political spectrum in facing the challenges the country has ahead of it. “While my compatriots as well as me will face international justice with dignity and integrity, I call upon you to stand united in dealing with the challenges that our country is facing.”

On June 24, the SPO announced that a ten-count indictment containing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity was filed against Thaci and Veseli in April. The indictment is awaiting to be confirmed by a pre-trial judge, with the deadline for a final decision on its confirmation due before October 24.

Thaci has vowed to resign if the indictment is confirmed. “If the indictment is confirmed, I will immediately resign as your president and will face the accusations,” he said on June 29. “I will not face charges from the Office of the President.”

The SPO and Kosovo Specialist Chambers are part of the judicial system of Kosovo that will try crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes, which allegedly occurred between 1998 and 2000, based on a 2011 Council of Europe report by Dick Marty and investigations by the Special Investigative Task Force set up following the publication of the report.

08/07/2020 - 19:10

08 July 2020 - 19:10

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