The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague has sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 1998-1999 war between the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbian forces, DW reported. The ruling followed a three-year trial.
According to the source, the sentence covers crimes including murder, torture and illegal detention. Prosecutors said KLA forces killed more than 100 political opponents and people considered collaborators with Serbian security forces during and shortly after the conflict. The alleged victims included prisoners held at KLA facilities in Kosovo and Albania, as well as Serb, Albanian and Roma civilians.
Thaci was a political leader of the KLA and later became a central figure in Kosovo’s postwar politics. He played a role in Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia. After his indictment in 2020, he resigned as president and has remained detained in The Hague.
The defense argued that senior KLA figures could not be held responsible for the alleged crimes because the organization lacked a strict command structure. Lawyers also said prosecutors had not presented direct evidence linking Thaci’s command to the acts described in the indictment.
The verdict was livestreamed in Pristina, where thousands of Thaci and KLA supporters gathered. DW said rallies over the weekend had drawn tens of thousands of people demanding acquittals. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti defended the independence struggle ahead of the ruling, saying, “Our war was just, a war of liberation,” while expressing hope that KLA leaders would return home.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was established under Kosovo law in 2016 after earlier war-crimes cases in Kosovo were affected by alleged political interference and witness intimidation. Although based in The Hague and staffed by international judges, the tribunal remains unpopular in Kosovo, where the KLA and Thaci are widely regarded as symbols of the independence movement.