No one expected the prosecution's case against former KLA superiors to take so long, says Nevenka Tromp, a researcher at the Hague Tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia for 12 years. In an interview with KosovaPress, she points out that now that the prosecution has closed its case and the path has been opened for the defense, it is an important moment when the Kosovar public must be focused. A conference is being held today at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on the progress of the case against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selim - the first hearing since the closure of the SPC case in the middle of this month. 125 witnesses testified against the former KLA leaders in the courtroom and thousands of pages of documents were deposited as material evidence. “There is a rule in criminal cases that, when the prosecution's case is over, defense attorneys review the evidence and file a motion to dismiss certain charges for which they claim the prosecution did not actually leave evidence. So this moment is very important and I hope that the Kosovo public through the media will be focused on it, because there is an objective possibility that the judges may remove charges from the indictment due to the fact that there was no evidence, some evidence may be weak for certain crimes, and then the defense's part will be smaller when it comes to presenting evidence for the charges that remain in the indictment. "So this is a very, very important moment," says Nevenka Tromp in an interview from The Hague. The SPO charges Thaçi and others with alleged war crimes. They have pleaded not guilty to all counts of the indictment. What is known as the grand trial began on April 3, 2023 - almost three years after the indictment was confirmed, since the former KLA leaders have been held in the detention center in The Hague. In the assessment of Nevenka Tromp - author of the book "The Criminal Trial Against Slobodan Milosevic: The Unfinished Trial" - the prosecution's case against Thaçi and others has dragged on beyond what was expected. “First of all, no one could have expected a prosecution case to last four years, because if there is legal equality, all four defendants will get another four years. Eight years for a first instance trial is quite a long time. Hopefully the defendants' side won't be that long. So, first of all, no, I don't think I expected it to be this long. Secondly, I had some indications that the courts of public opinion, where the public outside the courts thinks and perceives these courts, would be more active. I am very surprised that, for example, in the Netherlands, where a court is located, there is almost no interest from journalists to discuss the issues in substance. If you go even to a neighborhood in Kosovo, the press is not very willing to follow the trial week after week. "This is an indication of many things that could not have been predicted four, five, six years ago," she says. The next steps for this judicial process are expected to be discussed at the conference on the progress of the case being held today in The Hague. Defense attorneys have already announced their motions to dismiss some of the charges, an issue that is expected to be discussed at the progress conference, alongside that of the witnesses that the victims' attorney intends to present. What is already known is that if the defense attorneys' motions are rejected, they will call several witnesses. The defense of the former KLA superiors has considered the prosecution's case weak and has stated that they expect a positive result at the end of this trial. In the interview for KosovaPress, Nevenka Tromp also talks about the issue of the rights of defendants before the Special Court and whether she thinks there will be new indictments. "I think that, first of all, the trial of Thaçi and others should be concluded as soon as possible. Secondly, as I see it from the perspective of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, I don't see them issuing more indictments, because if they were to issue more indictments now, then the court would probably have to exist for at least another 10 years. So that would be a fairly long existence for a relatively small and regional international court. "So, on the one hand, for the individual trials, I hope they end as soon as possible," says Tromp. She also comments on the statements about "the possibility of closing the Special Court" that circulated in the public opinion after US President Donald Trump returned to the White House for another term. "For Kosovo as a state, as a society, for all of you, it would not be a good idea, because first of all you need to have consensus with the European Union. You live in Europe and you need the European Union, so imagine America saying: Okay, we'll help you abolish it. How would you go to Brussels and talk to the EU and the European Commission? "It has to be the same political force that created an institution that can abolish it, and I don't think the actors in this political climate are ready for something like that," says Tromp. The Specialist Chambers are part of the Kosovo judicial system but operate with international staff in The Hague, Netherlands. The European Union is the main funder of the Specialist Court, which was established in 2015 by the Kosovo Assembly. Third countries also contribute to the Special: the United States, Switzerland, Canada, Norway and Turkey. Meanwhile, the United States makes its contribution by funding employees appointed by it. While speaking about the case against Thaçi and others, Nevenka Tromp - lecturer at the University of Amsterdam says that "it is very important for the Kosovo public to be aware of why this trial began, for what purpose." "With the help of the media, daily reporting, but also to introduce these kinds of topics, certainly in university courses, because what you are seeing here is affecting you, every citizen of Kosovo, I'm not saying in a good or bad way, but it is affecting you more than you are aware of."