Kosovo’s Thaci Sentenced to 25 Years for War Crimes

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), an international tribunal seated in The Hague, sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, 16 September, for war crimes committed during and immediately after the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict. Three former senior commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) were convicted alongside him, receiving sentences that total 81 years, the court confirmed in its first-instance judgment.

The Verdict

Presiding Judge Charles Smith read out the ruling against Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. All four were found criminally responsible for the war crimes of arbitrary detention against 385 individuals, cruel treatment against 49, torture against 303, and murder against 96 people.

Thaci received 25 years and Krasniqi 25 years, while Veseli was sentenced to 18 years and Selimi to 13. All sentences carry credit for time already served in detention, according to the European Western Balkans. Breaking down Thaci’s individual culpability, Judge Smith imposed 15 years for unlawful arrest and deprivation of liberty, four years for cruel treatment, 20 for torture and 23 for murder, combined into a single 25-year term.

Crucially, all four defendants were acquitted of crimes against humanity, because the panel found the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there had been a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.

A Trial About Means, Not Motives

Judge Smith framed the proceedings carefully, noting that the trial “was not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army and its goal of an independent Kosovo, but about the use of certain criminal means by some of its members to achieve these goals.” He added that the trial “did not deal with the crimes Serbian forces and paramilitaries undoubtedly committed against Kosovo-Albanians.”

According to the official KSC press release, the judges found that the four men “contributed significantly to the common criminal purpose of targeting perceived opponents of the Kosovo Liberation Army’s political and military goals.” Those targeted included Kosovo Albanians linked to rival political or military forces, individuals alleged to be associated with Serbian authorities, and members of ethnic minorities, including Roma and Serbs. With limited exceptions, the panel found no evidence that any victim had engaged in criminal activity or posed a legitimate security concern, describing the vast majority as innocent civilians falsely labelled as collaborators or spies.

The court also highlighted that the trial unfolded against “a persistent climate of witness intimidation,” with several witnesses recanting testimony, evading basic details, or lying to the panel.

A Divided Region Reacts

The verdict drew sharply divergent reactions. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti called it “an unacceptable injustice and a severe punishment,” insisting that “this verdict must certainly be amended and corrected at the appellate level as soon as possible,” EWB reported. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama called the ruling “shameful,” and Albanian President Bajram Begaj expressed “deep sadness.”

In Pristina, the decision triggered protests. Demonstrators threw stones at the EULEX headquarters on the city’s outskirts, set off smoke bombs and partially set fire to the building’s roof, and also stoned the Kosovo Government building. Protests continued the following day, with demonstrators demanding that the government clarify its official stance.

Western capitals urged restraint. A US State Department spokesperson told Radio Free Europe: “We call on all sides to respect the court’s decision, avoid inflammatory rhetoric and continue working toward a peaceful and democratic future.” The UK’s Minister for Europe, Lord Wood of Anfield, stressed that the judgment “is not a judgment on Kosovo’s statehood, sovereignty or right to determine its own future,” while German Ambassador to Kosovo Rainer Rudolph said the verdict “in no way absolves Yugoslav actors of responsibility” for crimes committed during the conflict. France reiterated its “unwavering support for Kosovo’s independence,” according to a summary of the international response.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic took a more critical view, arguing the court declined to establish systematic attacks on civilians “because it did not want to undermine the credibility of the Kosovo Liberation Army,” and warning there should be “no euphoria” over a first-instance ruling that can still be amended. Serbia’s acting interior minister, Ivica Dacic, welcomed the convictions, saying the verdict confirmed “the true character of the Kosovo Liberation Army.”

Context and Background

The KSC was created under Kosovo law but composed of international judges, based in The Hague, and set up in part because earlier efforts to prosecute war crimes in Kosovo failed due to witness intimidation and political interference. The court has been deeply unpopular in Kosovo since its inception.

The 1998-1999 Kosovo war pitted Serbian forces against the ethnic Albanian KLA and ended with a 78-day NATO bombing campaign that forced Serbian forces to withdraw. Roughly 13,000 people were killed, about 11,000 of them Kosovo Albanians, most of them civilians.

For most ethnic-Albanian Kosovars, Thaci and the KLA remain symbols of the struggle for independence from Serbia. Thaci, now 58, led the KLA’s Political Directorate before serving as Kosovo’s Prime Minister from 2008 to 2014 and as President from 2016 until he resigned in November 2020 upon his indictment and surrendered to detention in The Hague.

What’s Next

The defendants are expected to appeal, and the ruling is a first-instance decision. As Politico Europe noted, Thaci also faces a separate trial later this month over alleged witness intimidation, and he has consistently denied all charges against him. The coming appeal process — and the question of whether Kosovo’s leadership can contain public anger while respecting the tribunal it helped create — will shape how this reckoning is ultimately remembered.