The conviction of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders prompted shock and anger in Pristina, according to DW. Thousands gathered in Kosovo’s capital and other major cities to watch the verdict on large screens, many carrying KLA flags. When the guilty verdicts were announced, the crowds fell silent before chanting in support of the four men and calling for justice.
Some citizens then tried to demolish sections of the perimeter wall around EULEX, the European Union’s rule-of-law mission in Kosovo. Kosovo police and special units intervened to prevent further damage and other incidents, DW reported.
The country’s political leadership also rejected the ruling. Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca, who attended the announcement in The Hague, called the convictions “a terrible judgment for Kosovo” and “a major blow to the state and to the domestic narrative.” Prime Minister Albin Kurti described the verdict as “an unacceptable injustice.”
The Democratic Party of Kosovo, founded after the war by Thaci and other former KLA leaders, called the judgment unjust and unacceptable. It said the ruling harmed the cause of people who had fought against Serbian rule and disputed the evidence used against the defendants. Acting President Albulena Haxhiu said the convictions were deeply shocking, while stressing Kosovo’s memory of killings, expulsions and people who remain missing from the 1998-99 war.
The three-judge panel at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers convicted all four men of war crimes against civilians and political opponents who did not support the KLA, while dismissing charges of crimes against humanity. Thaci and former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi each received 25-year sentences; former KLA intelligence chief Kadri Veseli was sentenced to 18 years, and former military police chief Rexhep Selimi to 13 years. The men denied the charges, and their defense lawyers said they would appeal.
The court was established by Kosovo’s parliament in 2015 and is staffed by international judges in The Hague. It handles allegations of crimes committed by KLA members during the Kosovo War. Thaci resigned as president in 2020 to face the case, nearly six years after the four men were charged and more than three years after the trial began, DW reported.