Specialist Court boycotted British experts' reporting in The Hague, Thaçi's lawyer reacts
Hashim Thaçi's defence lawyer, Luka Misetic, has reacted after the Kosovo Specialist Chambers boycotted a briefing by Kosovo's Ombudsperson and British legal experts concerning the trial proceedings in The Hague.
Misetic said that Kosovo's Ombudsperson and the Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council of England and Wales are playing a vital role in providing human rights guarantees.
"The right to a public trial is a cornerstone of human rights jurisprudence. Public oversight ensures institutional accountability, enabling the public to monitor prosecutors and courts so that procedural and substantive violations can be identified and corrected," Misetic wrote.
He also criticised prestigious organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, arguing that they frequently shift their approach at the international level and end up defending the institutions themselves, while consistently advocating for the rights of the accused at the national level.
"Unfortunately, over nearly 30 years of practice before international courts and tribunals, I have observed that major non-governmental organisations — such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International — which vigorously defend the rights of the accused at the national level, often change their approach at the international level and end up defending the institutions themselves. This systemic shift leaves defendants in international proceedings isolated, without the objective external monitoring that is necessary to guarantee their rights," Misetic added.
"Kosovo's Ombudsperson and the Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council of England and Wales deserve recognition for giving concrete meaning and genuine effect to the right to a public trial in the Thaçi and others proceedings," Misetic wrote.
