The Special Court has clarified to the Albanian Post that all time spent in detention since 2020 will be counted towards their sentence.
It has been more than a week since the verdict against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army was announced at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. Judge Charles Smith, during the announcement of the verdict on September 16, announced that the time spent in pre-trial detention will be counted towards the time spent in the four convicts’ sentences.
The Special Court, in a response to the Albanian Post, clarified that the calculation of time served begins from the day of arrest and that no period since that time is excluded from the calculation.
Thus, Jakup Krasniqi is the one who has spent the most time in detention. He was arrested on November 4, 2020 and by September 16, 2026, he had spent a total of 5 years, 10 months and 12 days in detention. Meanwhile, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi were arrested on November 5, 2020 and by September 16, 2026, they had spent 5 years, 10 months and 11 days in detention.
This period is deducted from the sentence imposed on each of them in the first instance. Thaçi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. After deducting 5 years, 10 months and 11 days spent in detention, he has 19 years, 1 month and 19 days left to serve. Krasniqi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. After deducting 5 years, 10 months and 12 days spent in detention, he has 19 years, 1 month and 18 days left to serve.
Whereas, Veseli has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. Taking into account the time spent in pre-trial detention, he has 12 years, 1 month and 19 days left to serve. Similarly, Selimi has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. After deducting the 5 years, 10 months and 11 days spent in pre-trial detention, he has 7 years, 1 month and 19 days left in prison. However, these calculations are valid if the sentences imposed by the Trial Panel remain unchanged after the appeal procedure.
The Special Court has also clarified that, once a prisoner has served two-thirds of his sentence, he becomes eligible for consideration of the possibility of having his sentence modified, commuted or replaced. This, however, does not constitute an automatic right to commutation or commutation of sentence.