Hashim Thaci: September Brings Verdict and Closing Arguments
A Hague judge has cancelled mid-August hearings in the obstruction of justice case against Hashim Thaci and four co-accused, moving the evidentiary phase toward its close.
A single judge at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague has cancelled the hearings that had been scheduled for August 17, 18 and 19 in the obstruction of justice case against Hashim Thaci and four other former KLA members. The move follows a notice from the defense of Bashkim Smakaj that it will not present evidence, according to a statement published on the court’s website.
Alongside Thaci and Smakaj, the same case names Isni Kilaj, Fadil Fazliu and Hajredin Kuçi as co-accused. The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office now has until noon on August 4 to file any request to present rebuttal evidence. If no such request arrives, the evidentiary proceedings will be closed.
The judge also laid out the deadlines that follow:
- August 24 by 4 p.m., filing of closing briefs
- September 4, responses to the closing briefs
- September 10, 11 and 14, closing arguments
What Thaci Is Accused of in This Case
The indictment charges him on three counts of attempting to obstruct an official person in the performance of official duty by participating in a joint criminal enterprise, on four counts of violating the confidentiality of proceedings, and on four counts of contempt of court.
Prosecutors say that between April 12 and November 2, 2023, during separate non-privileged visits at the detention unit in The Hague, Thaci passed his co-accused confidential information about prosecution witnesses from the separate war crimes case being heard against him. He is also alleged to have instructed them to influence the testimony of those witnesses and to have given detailed instructions on how to do so. The court’s statement did not specify how many witnesses the allegations cover.
The period the indictment covers begins after the trial in the main case was already underway. That is the essential link between the two proceedings: the second grew out of the first and its timeline depends on it.
Why September Is the Pivotal Month
In the main case, where Thaci is tried alongside Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, the verdict on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity is scheduled for September 16, 2026.
The calendars of the two cases now overlap within less than a week of each other. Closing arguments in the obstruction of justice case are set for September 10, 11 and 14, and just two days later the same man, in the same building, will hear the verdict in the case that brought him to The Hague in the first place. The outcome of one has no formal bearing on the other, but both will conclude before the same court within the same week.
Thaci has been held at the detention unit in The Hague since November 2020, when he resigned as president of Kosovo after the court confirmed the indictment against him. The verdict set for September 16 arrives almost six years to the day after that resignation.
The indictment in the main case concerns acts committed during 1998 and 1999, when the KLA carried out killings and abductions of members of the army and police of the former Yugoslavia, of Serbs and other non-Albanians, and of Albanians who refused to cooperate with the organization.
By noon on August 4, it will be clear whether the prosecution intends to seek rebuttal evidence. If it does not, the evidentiary phase of the obstruction of justice case will be closed, and everything left before the court will come down to written submissions and three days of oral argument in September.
