Former Kosovo President Thaci sentenced to 25 years for war crimes by Hague tribunal

Former Kosovo President Thaci sentenced to 25 years for war crimes by Hague tribunal

A European Union-backed court in The Hague sentenced Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after convicting him of war crimes committed during the country's struggle for independence from Serbia.

Thaci, who resigned from office on November 5, 2020, after a pre-trial judge confirmed his indictment, was found guilty of four counts of war crimes including murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, established by the Kosovo Assembly in 2015 following a controversial 2010 Council of Europe report, has jurisdiction over crimes committed between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2000.

The court operates as a temporary tribunal located in The Hague at the prosecutor's request to provide adequate witness protection. It is staffed exclusively by international personnel and funded by the European Union and contributing states including Norway, Switzerland and the United States.

Presiding Judge Charles Smith said Thaci actively participated in and encouraged crimes, including by promoting individuals involved in criminal acts, and showed a ruthless ability to remove and eliminate political impediments to his and other commanders' leadership. Wearing a suit and tie, Thaci stood silently as Smith delivered the sentence.

Both Thaci and prosecutors, who had requested a stricter sentence, have the right to appeal the judgment.

Tribunal finds war crimes but acquits on crimes against humanity

The court found Thaci and three co-defendants guilty of war crimes against 385 people who were arbitrarily detained, 49 who suffered cruel treatment, 303 who were tortured, and 96 who were murdered. However, they were acquitted on six charges of crimes against humanity because judges ruled prosecutors failed to prove the crimes were part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.

Judge Smith emphasized the trial was not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army or its goal of securing independence, but about personal criminal responsibility. The KLA emerged publicly as an organized armed resistance movement in 1996, though small groups of Albanian militants had begun attacks on Serbian police and officials in the early 1990s.

Three other former KLA leaders were sentenced alongside Thaci: Kadri Veseli received 18 years, Rexhep Selimi 13 years, and Jakup Krasniqi 25 years. All had pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Verdict triggers protests in Kosovo

The judgment sparked immediate anger among Thaci's supporters. 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 gathered at a park near the courthouse in The Hague, with some clashing briefly with Dutch riot police, who detained two people. In Pristina, thousands watched the hearing on a huge screen and were stunned by the sentence. Some shouted "UCK," the Albanian-language acronym for the Kosovo Liberation Army that Thaci once led before entering politics.

Later, masked protesters threw stones at the European Union Rule of Law Mission compound on the outskirts of Pristina, smashing several windows. Supporter Bekim Fetahu called the verdict a catastrophic decision, saying judges have put the victims together with the aggressors.

From liberation fighter to convicted war criminal

Thaci's fall marks a dramatic reversal for a man once embraced by the West. He was invited to peace talks held from February 6 to March 18, 1999, at Château de Rambouillet in France, co-chaired by the UK and France. The Kosovo Albanian delegation, including Thaci, signed the proposed agreement on March 18, 1999, but Yugoslavia and Serbia refused.

The failure of negotiations led to NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, known as Operation Allied Force, which lasted 78 days from March to June 1999. The intervention marked the first time NATO used military force without UN Security Council approval.

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 earned the nickname "the Snake" for his ability to evade Serb forces during the conflict and rose to political power after the war.

Judge Smith stated that Thaci and his co-defendants targeted political opponents and civilians perceived as collaborators and traitors during their time in the KLA. In reality, there is no indication that the victims in this case were spies or collaborators, Smith said. Simply having Serbian friends or jobs in Serbian companies was enough to treat them as collaborators of the enemy.

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.

International reactions divided

Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West applauded the judgment, stating:

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.

In Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed concern that the verdict would not survive appeals and criticized what he called anti-Serb bias, claiming multiple alleged crimes against ethnic Serb civilians had not been addressed. No responsibility has been established for the toughest crimes, he said. Serbs are always criminals and others are liberators and heroes.

Veseli's lawyer, Rodney Dixon, described the judgment as not a good day for Kosovo or for the rule of law or international law, vowing to mount a robust appeal to continue the fight to show Mr. Veseli's innocence and to bring him home to Kosovo.

Esther Major, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for Europe, said the convictions show that senior officials are not above the law.

Legacy of the Kosovo conflict

Most of the 13,000 people who died in the war were ethnic Albanians. About 1 million ethnic Albanian Kosovars were driven from their homes during the conflict.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move that Belgrade refuses to recognize. The independence has been recognized by over 100 countries including the United States and most European nations, but Serbia, Russia, China and India do not recognize it, and Kosovo has not been granted UN membership. Ties between Kosovo and Serbia remain tense despite years of EU-mediated negotiations supported by the United States.