The prosecution’s case against Hashim Thaçi is built upon a proposition both simple in its formulation and extraordinarily demanding in the standard of proof required to sustain it.
It is not enough for prosecutors to demonstrate that crimes occurred during the Kosovo war. Nor is it sufficient to show that Mr Thaçi occupied a position of political or military influence within the Kosovo Liberation Army. International criminal law demands considerably more. The judges must ultimately decide whether the evidence establishes, beyond reasonable doubt, that Hashim Thaçi knowingly and significantly contributed to the commission of specific crimes charged in the indictment through one or more recognised modes of criminal liability.
That burden explains why the prosecution devotes an entire chapter exclusively to Mr Thaçi before examining the remaining accused. Within the architecture of its Final Trial Brief, his alleged role is analysed individually under several distinct categories, each int…
