Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in The Hague, in one of the most long-awaited decisions for Kosovo.
The verdict was announced on Wednesday, September 16, and along with Thaçi, three other former KLA leaders were also sentenced.
Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a tribunal in The Hague on Wednesday, September 16, for war crimes, the court said in a long-awaited verdict expected to cause outrage in the Balkan country.
The judges said Thaçi, who was tried alongside three other former guerrilla leaders, was guilty of illegal arrests, torture, murder and cruel treatment committed by guerrilla fighters, the French newspaper Le Monde reported.
In the capital of Kosovo, a large crowd gathered to watch live on big screens the sentencing of a man whom many honor as a hero.
As the verdict was announced, the crowd fell silent, with many people appearing to be shocked by the decision, after weeks of preparation by his supporters for a possible acquittal.
Other KLA figures, Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi and Kadri Veseli, were also found guilty and sentenced. Krasniqi received 25 years in prison, Selimi 13 years and Veseli 18 years. According to the court, all four were found criminally responsible for the arbitrary detention and torture of hundreds of people, as well as for 96 murders, but were acquitted of charges of crimes against humanity.
Large crowds in support
The court also said that Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi had “substantially contributed” during the conflict in Kosovo to a common criminal purpose, which targeted perceived opponents of the KLA’s political and military aims. Thaçi resigned as president and surrendered to the court following the indictment against him in 2020. He has remained in custody in The Hague since then, with time spent in custody counted towards his sentence.
For many in Kosovo, Thaçi and the KLA are symbols of its independence movement. After the war, Thaçi remained a central political figure and played a key role in its declaration of independence in 2008. Throughout the trial, images of the 58-year-old, who also served as prime minister, have regularly appeared on large billboards across the country.
Expectations for the possible release of Thaçi and his co-defendants drew large crowds to a rally over the weekend, and on Wednesday, hundreds again gathered in the capital ahead of the verdict, as the hours counted down to the decision. Once it became clear that the former president would remain in custody, the square emptied almost entirely within minutes.
“A terrible verdict for Kosovo, for our liberation war. It is a sad, unjust and undeserved decision,” Kosovo Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca told media outside the court. “The conviction and such a severe sentence for four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army is an unacceptable injustice, a great and harmful punishment,” Prime Minister Albin Kurti wrote on Facebook after the sentence was announced.
Controversial court
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSCC), although based in the Netherlands and composed of international judges, were established under Kosovo law specifically to prosecute alleged crimes committed by members of the KLA during the war. Prior to the court’s establishment, previous cases in Kosovo largely failed due to alleged witness intimidation and political interference. The court, which has been deeply unpopular since its inception, has further fueled accusations of political bias through its use of evidence provided by Belgrade, which still refuses to recognize the independence of its former province.
Prosecutors have tried throughout the trial to draw a distinction between the country’s war for independence and the men on trial. They say the four men are responsible for crimes committed against prisoners held in KLA detention facilities in Kosovo and neighboring Albania, as well as for politically motivated killings of Serb, Albanian and Roma civilians. The crimes were committed during and immediately after the Kosovo war, which claimed an estimated 13,000 lives.
In response, the men's lawyers had argued that the KLA did not have a strict command structure and that senior figures could not control fighters who committed crimes nor be held accountable for them.
