Kosovo Ex-President Thaci Gets Jailed 25 Years for War Crimes

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, Sept. 16, after a tribunal in The Hague convicted him of war crimes committed during Kosovo’s conflict with Serbia in the late 1990s.According to Reuters on Wednesday, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers found the 58-year-old former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guilty of murder, torture, cruel treatment, and arbitrary detention.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.The court held Thaci and three other former KLA commanders criminally responsible for the arbitrary detention of 385 people, cruel treatment of 49, torture of 303, and the murder of 96.None of the victims were actively participating in hostilities when the crimes occurred, the court said.“The plan was as simple as it was harmful,” presiding judge Charles Smith said.Judges found that the four defendants had participated in a joint criminal enterprise targeting people perceived as opponents of the KLA’s political and military objectives.Court details killings and detention networkAccording to an official statement from the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the defendants helped establish detention facilities in KLA-controlled areas and identify, arrest, and imprison alleged opponents.The victims included Kosovo Albanians associated with rival political or military organizations, people accused of links to Serbian or Yugoslav authorities, and members of ethnic minorities, including Roma and Serbs. 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He had denied all charges and may appeal the verdict.Prosecutors had requested a 45-year prison sentence.Three other KLA commanders convictedThree other former KLA commanders were also convicted of war crimes.Kadri Veseli, the former head of the KLA’s intelligence directorate, received an 18-year sentence. Rexhep Selimi, a former KLA inspector general, was sentenced to 13 years, while former KLA spokesperson and deputy commander Jakup Krasniqi received 25 years.All four will receive credit for the time they have spent in detention since their arrests in November 2020.However, the court acquitted the defendants of six charges of crimes against humanity. Judges said prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the offenses formed part of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population.The panel emphasized that the trial did not concern the legitimacy of the KLA’s campaign for Kosovo’s independence or crimes committed by Serbian forces against Kosovo Albanians.The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was established in 2015 under international pressure to investigate alleged crimes committed by former KLA members during and immediately after the 1998-99 war.Although it applies Kosovo law, the court is based in The Hague and staffed by international judges and prosecutors.Protests follow verdictThe ruling triggered protests among Thaci’s supporters in both The Hague and Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, where he remains a national hero to many ethnic Albanians.Several hundred demonstrators briefly clashed with police outside the tribunal after attempting to march toward the court building, Reuters reported.Hundreds of people also marched through Pristina, where riot police were deployed amid concerns over possible unrest.“This verdict is shameful. From today, there will be no peace in Kosovo,” former KLA fighter Raif Pllana told Reuters during the demonstration.Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama also criticized the verdict, posting an image of barbed wire drawn across a map of Europe with the word “Unbelievable.”Thaci served as Kosovo’s prime minister before becoming president in 2016. He resigned from the presidency in November 2020 after the tribunal confirmed the indictment against him.Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade continues to reject its sovereignty. The legacy of the war and the status of Kosovo remain major sources of tension between the two sides. Yuliia Zavadska is a news writer at Kyiv Post. She has experience in breaking news coverage, fact-checking, and digital journalism, with a focus on fast, accurate reporting and clear storytelling. Before joining Kyiv Post, she worked as a news feed editor for several leading Ukrainian media outlets.