Presentation of the closing arguments in the Gnjilane group case was postponed until further notice because the court documentation was not translated into Albanian by the scheduled deadline.
Judge Snezana Nikolic Garotic explained that the translation was late due to extensive documentation "despite great effort invested by the translators."
Nazif Hasani, Ahmet Hasani, Faton Hajdari, Samet Hajdari, Ferat Hajdari, Kamber Sahiti, Selimon Sadiki, Agush Memishi, Burim Fazli and Shemsi Nuhiu are charged as members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, stationed in Gnjilane, Kosovo, with brutally torturing to death at least 80 people between early June and late December 1999.
According to the indictment issued by the prosecution on August 11, 2009, at least 34 people are still considered missing, while at least 153 people, who were illegally detained and tortured, were subsequently released.
The accused Fazli Ajdari, Rexhep Aliu, Shaqir Shaqiri, Shefqet Musliu, Sadik Aliu, Idriz Aliu and Ramadan Halimi are fugitives tried in absentia.
At the hearing on Wednesday, procedural issues were discussed, including written evidence.
Judge Nikolic Garotic presented written evidence received from the Association of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans from Gnjilane stating that Shemsi Nuhiu was never a member of the group.
Prosecutor Mioljub Vitorovic objected to the evidence, saying that it is inappropriate to collect evidence from the accused party.
“It is unseemly and inadmissible to seek a certificate from the KLA veterans while we are having the KLA veterans on trial here,” said Vitorovic.
The Trial Chamber also showed the interested parties documents related to events from 1999, which were received from the Security Information Agency, Military Security Agency, EULEX, UNMIK, KFOR, Red Cross and other international institutions that were present in Kosovo during the conflict.
A court in Belgrade sentenced nine members of the Gnjilane Group to a total of 101 years in prison for war crimes against civilians on January 21, 2011.
The War Crime Chamber of the Appellate Court in Belgrade quashed that verdict on December 7, 2011, and set the case for a retrial.
The Trial Chamber will determine the date for closing arguments at a later date.
Timeline of events in the case against 13 former Serb fighters charged with committing war crimes in the villages of Cuska, Zahac, Ljubenic and Pavlac in Kosovo in 1999.