The verdict was handed down in The Hague in the war crimes case against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi.
The court found the defendants guilty of war crimes including unlawful deprivation of liberty, cruel treatment, torture and murder. Thaçi and Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years.
Kosovans followed the verdict from public squares
Thousands of people in the capital Pristina and various other cities followed the verdict hearing on large screens set up for the occasion. Large crowds gathered in the squares after the verdict was announced, with many expressing deep disappointment.
Prosecutors had sought sentences of 45 years in prison for each of the KLA commanders being tried in detention in The Hague. The separate case against Thaçi over allegations that he threatened witnesses is still ongoing.
The jurisdiction of the specialist court
The specialist court, also known as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, was established in The Hague and operates under Kosovo law. The judicial body, composed of international judges and prosecutors, was created to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes committed in Kosovo between 1998 and 2000.
Beginning in early 2019, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office summoned numerous former KLA members for questioning. The first indictment against Thaçi, Krasniqi, Veseli and Selimi was confirmed on October 26, 2020.
The indictment alleged that the defendants were responsible for the deaths of approximately 100 people. The defendants were charged with war crimes including murder, deportation and torture. The four commanders had been held in detention in The Hague since April 3, 2023.
The Kosovo War and the independence process
The Kosovo War of 1998-1999 ended with NATO’s ground and air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which comprised Serbia and Montenegro. More than 10,000 people in Kosovo, most of them ethnic Albanians, were killed in the war, while more than 1 million Kosovans from different ethnic groups were forced to leave their homes.
The KLA was established by Kosovo Albanians in the 1990s to fight Yugoslav forces and secure Kosovo’s independence. The organization was disbanded after the war, and its commanders and members joined the new security institutions established in Kosovo.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008. Serbia continues to regard Kosovo as its own territory.
