Ex-Kosovo leader Thaci sentenced to 25 years for war crimes

Hashim Thaci, the former president of Kosovo and onetime commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday by a war crimes tribunal in The Hague for atrocities committed during the territory's 1990s conflict with Serbia. The 58-year-old politician was found guilty of murder, torture and illegal detention carried out by the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force during its separatist war against Serbian rule, according to the court's judgment.

Prosecutors had requested maximum prison terms of 45 years for Thaci and his three co-defendants — former KLA leaders Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi — who were also convicted alongside the former president. All four men had entered not guilty pleas to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout the proceedings at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

Conflict background

The case stems from atrocities committed during Kosovo's 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia, which claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands from the majority-Albanian territory. Thaci rose to prominence as a political leader following the conflict, serving as prime minister and later as president until his resignation in November 2020 to face the charges in the Netherlands.

Regional implications

The verdict marks the first time a former head of state from the region has been convicted by an international tribunal for crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, though Belgrade continues to reject the territory's sovereignty and maintains that the KLA committed systematic crimes against Serbian civilians.