The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison after a three-year trial over war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the 1998-1999 war with Serbia, according to DW.
Thaci, a former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was convicted of murder, torture and illegal detention. The tribunal said he was responsible for the murder of 96 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces, the illegal detention of 385 people and the torture of more than 300 people.
The court said Thaci had “actively participated in and encouraged crimes.” Prosecutors had alleged that KLA forces killed more than 100 political opponents and perceived collaborators during and shortly after the war. The alleged crimes included killings of Serb, Albanian and Roma civilians, as well as abuses at KLA detention facilities in Kosovo and Albania.
Thaci was tried alongside three other former KLA guerrilla leaders. Defense lawyers argued that senior KLA figures could not be held responsible because the organization lacked a strict command structure, and said there was no direct evidence connecting Thaci’s command to the alleged crimes.
The verdict was livestreamed in Pristina, where supporters of Thaci and the KLA gathered. DW reported that rallies over the weekend had drawn tens of thousands of people calling for acquittals, while foreign embassies warned of possible unrest. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti had defended the KLA’s campaign as a war of liberation and expressed hope that its leaders would return home.
Thaci resigned as president after his 2020 indictment and has been detained in The Hague since then. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was established under Kosovo law in 2016, with international judges and staff, after earlier proceedings in Kosovo were undermined by alleged political interference and witness intimidation. The court remains unpopular in Kosovo, where Thaci and other defendants are widely regarded as national heroes of the independence movement.