Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three fellow ex-guerrilla leaders were given lengthy prison sentences for war crimes including arbitrary detention, torture and murder during the 1998-99 conflict.
Rexhep Selimi, Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi, and Kadri Veseli in court on September 16, 2026. Photo: Screenshot/Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
Kosovo’s former head of state Hashim Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Wednesday for the war crimes of arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder, committed from April 1998 to June 1999 during the Kosovo war.
In the names of the people of Kosovo,
“In the names of the people of Kosovo, the panel finds you, Hashim Thaci, guilty of arbitrary arrest and detention as a war crime against at least 385 persons; cruel treatment against at least 49; torture as a war crimes against at least 303 persons; murder as a war crimes committed against 96 persons,” presiding judge Charles Smith III announced.
Thaci’s co-defendants Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi were sentenced to 25, 18 and 13 years in prison respectively. All four men were found guilty of bearing responsibility for the crimes while they were senior officials of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA during the war with Serbian forces.
The four men were found not guilty of the crimes against humanity of persecution, imprisonment, other inhumane acts, torture, murder and enforced disappearances because the crimes were committed after the end of the Kosovo war.
Thaci, along with former parliament speakers Veseli
Thaci, along with former parliament speakers Veseli and Krasniqi, and former MP Selimi, had all pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Thousands of supporters of the defendants, who had travelled to The Hague for the verdict and listened to the livestream in a public park, erupted in anger when the convictions were announced. There was a brief clash with Dutch police, who prevented them marching towards the court.
The Specialist Chambers found that Thaci, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi were part of a joint criminal enterprise that aimed to exert control by targeting perceived opponents of the KLA.
These opponents included people associated with other political
These opponents included people associated with other political or military groups that had not pledged their loyalty to KLA – in particular the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK party – as well as individuals alleged to be associated with the Serbian authorities and members of non-Albanian ethnic groups like Roma people and Serbs.
Hundreds were imprisoned and some killed, according to the verdict. “Some detainees died because of severe beatings from their KLA captors,” judge Smith said.
During the trial, the defence insisted that the KLA did not have a proper army command structure, so the defendants did not have genuine control over lower-ranking fighters. However, judge Smith said the court found that the KLA’s political directorate, which Thaci led, had huge authority over the guerrilla force.
The presiding judge said that the accused worked
The presiding judge said that the accused worked together with others to set up detention facilities and establish a military police force, intelligence service and special units, and tasked them with carrying out their “criminal plan” to establish their authority in Kosovo. They also “secured impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes as a matter of policy”, the judge added.
The time that the defendants have spent in detention since November 2020 will be counted against their sentences. They have the right to appeal.
This is the highest-level case to be heard at the so-called Kosovo Special Court and has been marred by delays and controversy, as well as a series of protests staged by supporters of the defendants in Pristina, Tirana, Skopje, Strasbourg and The Hague.
Many ethnic Albanians consider the court biased against the KLA’s
Many ethnic Albanians consider the court biased against the KLA’s war against repression by the Serbian authorities.
Delivering the verdict, judge Smith insisted that the case was “not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army”.
“This case is not concerned with crimes of Serbian army and paramilitaries that undoubtedly committed against the Albanians in Kosovo. This case is not concerned with any claims of self-defence. Instead this case is exclusively concerned if the crimes alleged in the indictment were committed,” he said.
The lengthy trial was marred by accusations
The lengthy trial was marred by accusations of witness-tampering. As a result, Thaci faces judgment in another case for obstruction of justice. Judge Smith lamented that the trial had taken place in “climate of witness intimidation”, saying that some witnesses lied or changed their previous accounts in court, and that some may have been afraid due to concerns for their safety or out of loyalty.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was created specifically to try former members of the KLA under pressure from Kosovo’s Western allies. The court is part of Kosovo’s justice system, but based in The Hague and staffed by international judges and prosecutors due to doubts about the Kosovo justice system’s ability to try former KLA fighters, who are seen by many in the country as heroic liberators from Serbian oppression.
Source: balkaninsight.com
