James Rubin, who served as US Assistant Secretary of State during the Kosovo war, has announced that he will testify before the Specialist Chambers in The Hague next week. The defense of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) begins presenting evidence and calling witnesses on September 15.
"I'll be in Europe because next week I'm testifying at the Special Tribunal for Kosovo War Crimes and as someone who helped former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright establish the original war crimes tribunal. That means I'm going back to square one and I have more to say about that next week," Rubin told Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files with James Rubin.
Former President Hashim Thaçi, former parliamentarians Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former Kosovo MP Rexhep Selimi are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They deny the charges.
Rubin, who was a key figure during the Kosovo war, gave an interview to Radio Free Europe in 2023, where he spoke about the United States' stance on the KLA. He stated that at first, before knowing all the information, the activities of Albanian groups were considered terrorist activities. However, as the peace process developed, the KLA became a central part of this process, and Hashim Thaçi, during the Rambouillet talks, made the courageous decision to accept the Rambouillet Agreement, thus enabling NATO support for the Kosovo Albanians. Rubin emphasized that this decision had allowed the citizens of Kosovo to live more freely and more safely in a modern European city like Pristina.
According to Rubin, the KLA played a crucial role in implementing the agreements and demilitarization after the end of the war. He had not commented on the accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Thaçi and other former KLA leaders.
On September 15, Thaçi's defense team will begin presenting evidence and calling witnesses. After the conclusion of this phase by Thaçi's defense, the case will also be presented by Krasniqi's team. On July 16, 2025, the defense teams of Veseli and Selim announced that they will not present any defense evidence. Thaçi's defense has warned that among the witnesses it will call will be figures from the United States and Great Britain. "I cannot say the names in public because these are people of high stature, very well-known, such as Secretary Albright, Richard Holbrooke, Senator Dole, etc.," said one of Thaçi's lawyers during a status conference on August 19.
Former President Thaçi's defense intends to call 11-12 witnesses, who will give evidence in open sessions. Meanwhile, Krasniqi's defense has announced that two witnesses will give evidence in court, while two others will give written testimony, which has already been submitted to prosecutors.
The panel of judges of the Specialist Chambers is expected to conclude the case of the defense of Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi by November 14, or one week after the conclusion of the testimony of the last witness. The panel has also requested that the defense of the former KLA leaders be prepared to present their final trial briefs before December 22 of this year. As of November 4 and 5, 2020, all four accused have been in custody in The Hague, where the Kosovo Specialist Chambers are located. The trial against them began in April 2023. Over the past two years, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has called 125 witnesses and presented around 3,000 pieces of material evidence. The SPS announced on April 16 that it had completed the presentation of evidence against the former KLA leaders. The indictment against them was confirmed in October 2020, but was made public a month later. The indictment charges the defendants with personal responsibility, as well as for crimes committed by their subordinates.
According to the indictment, Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the murder of more than 100 victims and the unlawful detention and torture of hundreds of victims. The indictment states that the four defendants and other members of the KLA were part of a “joint criminal enterprise” and had a common purpose to seize and exercise control throughout Kosovo, using all means, including intimidation, ill-treatment, the use of violence and the elimination of opponents.
