Gërvalla’s shifting statements used as grounds to keep Selimi in detention

Justice Minister Donika Gërvalla has spoken for the first time since the first-instance guilty verdict against former KLA leaders at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague. At a media conference, asked about criticism that she had remained silent, she said she and her team got to work from the very first day after the verdict. “The Specialist Chambers issue is a legal battle, not one of media statements,” Gërvalla said, as Klan Kosova reports.

Gërvalla denied any connection to testimony against the former KLA leaders in The Hague. “I have no link whatsoever with UNMIK, EULEX or the Specialist Chambers; there is no contact of mine, direct or indirect,” she said.

But today’s statements come after a shift in her public positions — and according to journalist Rina Mujku, this shift was cited as a reference for keeping Rexhep Selimi in detention. Mujku said Gërvalla had earlier, when asked about sending files to the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague, denied having handed over files or having had contacts with Hague investigators. According to Mujku, the change in Gërvalla’s public statements was taken as evidence of a climate of witness intimidation in Kosovo — one of the main reasons Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi have had their detention extended more than 100 times since November 2020.

Gërvalla’s shifting positions were first discussed on a television show at the start of the trial, and later former chief prosecutor Alex Whiting used this fact to request the continued detention of Rexhep Selimi; the Trial Panel granted the request. Gërvalla reiterated that she has had no contact with the Specialist Chambers and that her focus is institutional work and preparations for the appeals phase.