War crimes: 25 years in prison for Kosovo’s ex-president

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War crimes: 25 years in prison for Kosovo’s ex-president

Hashim Thaci has always maintained his innocence. But the Kosovo special tribunal sees it differently and convicts him of the most serious crimes. There are protests in The Hague.

After a trial that lasted several years, the ex-president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes. The Kosovo special court in The Hague found it proven, among other things, that he was responsible for political murders in 96 cases. He was also accused of other serious crimes such as torture and persecution as well as arbitrary detention of innocent people. The verdict is not yet final.

The 58-year-old Thaci had previously described himself as “completely innocent”. He received the verdict, which presiding judge Charles Smith read out on Wednesday, outwardly unmoved. The prosecution had demanded 45 years in prison for Thaci for the war crimes committed in the late 1990s. The defense demanded acquittal. Almost 300 witnesses testified in the trial, and 155 victims were involved in the three-year process.

According to the indictment, Thaci and three co-defendants belonged to the leadership of the Kosovo Albanian Liberation Army (KLA), which is said to have committed the most serious crimes in the fight for its political goals. The judge emphasized, however, that the proceedings were not about the KLA’s goals or approach, but only about “the individual guilt of the defendants” for war crimes. The three other defendants also received long prison sentences: Kadri Veseli was sentenced to 18 years, Rexhep Selimi to 13 years and Jakup Krasniqi to 25 years.

Some other charges, including crimes against humanity, were not taken into account in the sentencing because the court did not see sufficient evidence, the judge said.

Between 2008 and 2020, Thaci was Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and President of the Kosovo. He had resigned from his position to face the court in The Hague. All four defendants held leading positions in the KLA and high political offices after the war. After the war, Thaci was used by politicians in the West for years to discuss a peaceful solution to the conflict between Kosovo and Kosovo Serbia accepted and also received by top German politicians.

The KLA fought from 1998 to 1999 to gain independence from Serbia for the predominantly Albanian-inhabited Kosovo. This was finally achieved with the help of NATOafter Serb security forces in Kosovo committed serious war crimes against the Kosovar Albanian population. These were what the von den dealt with U.N. established war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The Kosovo Special Tribunal was set up independently in 2015 following international pressure. It is part of Kosovo’s judicial system, but is staffed by international judges and prosecutors. It had been moved to The Hague for security reasons. The four judgments can still be appealed.