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Kosovo's ex-President Thaci convicted of war crimes, sentenced to 25 years in prison
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Kosovo’s former President Thaci convicted of war crimes A European Union-backed court convicted former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci of war crimes committed during his country's war for independence from Serbia and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Kosovo’s ex-President Thaci sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes A European Union-backed court convicted former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci of war crimes committed during his country's war for independence from Serbia and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
− Koen van Weel/Pool ANP via AP hide caption
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A European Union-backed court on Wednesday convicted former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci of four counts of war crimes committed during his country's war for independence from Serbia and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
+ Koen van Weel/Pool ANP via AP hide caption
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after being found guilty of war crimes committed during the war for independence from Serbia in 1998-99.
− Europe Kosovo's President Steps Down To Face War Crimes Charges Thaci, 58, who resigned from office nearly six years ago to face the charges, was convicted by a panel of judges at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention.
+ Thaci resigned from office nearly six years ago to face the charges at the European Union-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. He was convicted of four counts of war crimes including murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention.
− Wearing a suit and tie, Thaci stood in silence as Presiding Judge Charles Smith read out the sentence.
+ Europe Kosovo's President Steps Down To Face War Crimes Charges Both he and the prosecutors, who had asked for a stricter sentence, can appeal.
− Thaci faced multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, torture and persecution alongside three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war. They are widely regarded as national heroes in their homeland.
+ The judgment sparked anger among Thaci's supporters and was a crushing blow for a man who was once embraced by the West, invited to the 1999 peace talks in France and seen as the leader who could guide Kosovo to independence.
− Thousands of people rallied in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, over the weekend in support of the four men.
+ Presiding Judge Charles Smith said Thaci actively participated in and encouraged crimes, including by promoting individuals involved in crimes, and "showed a ruthless ability to remove and eliminate political impediments" to his and other commanders' leadership.
Wearing a suit and tie, Thaci stood in silence as Smith read out the sentence.
Kosovo Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca condemned the verdicts as "a terrible judgment for Kosovo, for our people and for our liberation war."
Hundreds of supporters waited at a park near the courthouse in The Hague, and some clashed briefly with Dutch riot police, who said on X that they detained two people.
In Kosovo's capital, Pristina, thousands of people watched the hearing live on a huge screen and were stunned by the sentence.
− The protesters filled a central square in the capital, many carrying red and black Albanian flags.
+ Some shouted "UCK," the Albanian-language acronym for the Kosovo Liberation Army that Thaci once led before entering politics.
− Portraits of the four former KLA fighters have been plastered across the city along with a huge digital clock counting down to Wednesday's verdicts.
+ One supporter, Bekim Fetahu, said the verdict was "a catastrophic decision."
"They (judges) have put the victims together with the aggressors," Fetahu added.
− "In the name of the people, declare them innocent," one banner read.
+ Later, masked protesters threw stones at the wall surrounding the compound of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX, on the outskirts of Pristina, smashing several windows.
− Prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers court in The Hague have asked for a maximum 45-year prison sentence for Thaci and the other defendants, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.
+ Smith, the presiding judge, said Thaci "used his position, leadership, authority and standing" to encourage crimes and failed to investigate or punish abuse by KLA fighters.
However, the American judge also stressed that the trial was "not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army" or its ultimate goal of securing independence for Kosovo, which at the time was a province in Serbia.
Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West applauded the judgment.
− They have all denied the charges against them.
+ "Certain individuals exploited those war circumstances to commit grave crimes, and it is to the credit of Kosovo that those individuals are now being held accountable," she said in a statement.
− "Throughout my life, I stood with the people of Kosovo defending freedom, life and dignity.
+ In Belgrade, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said "we have no reason to rejoice" and expressed concern that the verdict will not hold after appeals.
− I was always guided by the Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice," Thaci told judges in February at the end of his nearly three-year trial.
+ Vucic was critical that multiple other alleged crimes against ethnic Serb civilians have not been taken into account, claiming anti-Serb bias.
− According to prosecutors, the men targeted political opponents and civilians perceived as collaborators and traitors during their time in the KLA.
+ "No responsibility has been established for the toughest crimes," he said. "Serbs are always (war) criminals and others are liberators and heroes."
Thaci was on trial with three other former KLA leaders who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war and are widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo. They pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.
− The staff at the European Union-backed court are largely international due to fears about witness safety and security.
+ The four were acquitted on six charges of crimes against humanity because the judges said the prosecutors failed to prove that crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.
They were found guilty of the war crimes of the arbitrary detention of 385 people, cruel treatment of 49, torture of 303 detainees and the murder of 96 people.
Thaci and the other defendants, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, all maintained their innocence.
− In 2022, the court convicted two leaders of a Kosovo war veterans' association for intimidating witnesses by publicizing leaked confidential documents.
+ Veseli was sentenced to 18 years, Selimi to 13 years and Krasniqi to 25 years in prison.
− Thaci also faces a separate trial on charges of intimidating witnesses that will begin later this month.
+ Veseli's lawyer, Rodney Dixon, described the judgment as "not a good day for Kosovo. It's not a good day for the rule of law or international law" and said he would "mount a robust appeal to continue the fight to show Mr. Veseli's innocence and to bring him home to Kosovo."
As his trial ended in February, Thaci told judges: "Throughout my life, I stood with the people of Kosovo, defending freedom, life and dignity. I was always guided by the Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice."
But the court ruled that Thaci and his co-defendants targeted political opponents and civilians perceived as collaborators and traitors during their time in the KLA.
− He was a student who returned from what he described as political exile in Switzerland to join Kosovo's struggle for independence.
+ "In reality, there is no indication that the victims in this case were spies or collaborators," Smith said.
+ Just having "Serbian friends or jobs in Serbian companies was enough to treat them as collaborators" of the enemy.
When fighting broke out, Thaci was a student who returned from what he described as political exile in Switzerland to join Kosovo's struggle for independence.
− He was embraced by Western leaders, who invited him to the 1999 peace talks in France in his role as political director of the Kosovo Liberation Army, and was seen as a leader who could guide the country toward independence.
− Most of the 13,000 people who died in the war in Kosovo were ethnic Albanians.
+ Esther Major, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Europe, said the convictions "show that senior officials are not above the law."
Most of the 13,000 people who died in the war in Kosovo were ethnic Albanians.
− Ties between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense, despite years of negotiations mediated by the European Union and supported by the United States.
+ Ties between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense, despite years of EU-mediated negotiations supported by the United States.