Hashim Thaci, the former president of Kosovo, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty of war crimes committed during Kosovo’s 1998-99 conflict with Serbia. The verdict was delivered by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a European Union-backed tribunal based in The Hague, which tried Thaci along with three other senior former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Thaci, who led the KLA’s political and intelligence efforts during the war, was convicted on charges including murder, torture, cruel treatment, and arbitrary detention. The tribunal found that he and his co-defendants participated in a “joint criminal enterprise” responsible for the illegal detention of 385 individuals, the torture of 303, cruel treatment of 49, and the murder of at least 96 people. Most victims were ethnic Albanians considered political opponents or collaborators by the KLA, as well as members of minority communities such as Kosovo’s Roma population and ethnic Serbs. The court emphasized that none of the victims were active participants in hostilities when the crimes occurred.
Presiding Judge Charles Smith stated that Thaci used his leadership position to actively encourage and facilitate these crimes and that the intelligence leading to arrests and killings was largely unsubstantiated. However, the court clarified that the trial did not question the legitimacy of the KLA’s ultimate goal of securing independence for Kosovo, which was a province of Serbia at the time.
Thaci, 58, resigned as president in 2020 to face the charges and appeared in court alongside Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi, who were also convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 13 to 25 years. All defendants denied the charges, and both they and the prosecution have the right to appeal.
The verdict provoked significant reactions in Kosovo and Serbia. In Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, thousands gathered to watch the court proceedings on large screens, with many expressing shock and anger. Supporters of Thaci and the other convicted men clashed briefly with riot police near the courthouse in The Hague and held protests in Kosovo, with some accusing the tribunal of injustice and alleging that the charges were politically motivated to undermine the Kosovo liberation struggle. Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca called the ruling “a terrible judgment” for Kosovo and its liberation war. Thaci’s political party described the verdict as based on “fabricated” evidence and Serbian propaganda.
In contrast, the specialist prosecutor lauded the decision as a crucial step in holding those responsible for war crimes accountable and reinforcing the rule of law in Kosovo. Meanwhile, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic expressed skepticism about the ruling, citing unresolved allegations of crimes against Serbs during the war and suggesting a perceived bias in prosecuting KLA members.
The trial has been a contentious issue for Kosovo, reflecting deep divisions over the legacy of the 1990s conflict, which left some 13,000 people dead—mostly ethnic Albanians—and forcibly displaced around one million Kosovo Albanians. Thaci, once seen as a key figure in Kosovo’s path to independence and courted by Western leaders in the 1990s and 2000s, now faces imprisonment while also confronting separate charges related to attempts to intimidate witnesses during his initial trial.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was established in 2016 to investigate alleged crimes by KLA members, a mandate criticized in Kosovo for not addressing alleged Serbian war crimes during the same period. The court’s decisions are expected to have lasting impacts on Kosovo’s political dynamics and its often strained relationship with Serbia.