Kosovo’s war crimes court has convicted former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci of four counts of war crimes committed during his country’s war for independence from Serbia. Thaci, 58, was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years in prison for crimes, including murder, torture and illegal detention, committed as the top commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the territory’s violent breakup with Serbia in the 1990s. Recommended Stories 3-item listend list The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) in The Hague, Netherlands, said he was guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and alleged collaborators of the Serbian security forces on behalf of the KLA during the conflict. Thaci denied all charges. Dressed in a suit and tie, he remained silent as Presiding Judge Charles Smith read the sentence. Three former senior KLA commanders were also sentenced on several different charges. Jakup Krasniqi was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Kadri Veseli received 18 years, including time spent in custody, and Rexhep Selimi was sentenced to 13 years, including time spent in custody. The verdict stated that they would have the right to appeal. The Kosovar Albanians gather during a demonstration in Pristina on September 16. 2026 to request absolution [AFP]The four men were acquitted of six counts of crimes against humanity because judges said prosecutors failed to prove the crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians. “Detrimental to Kosovo.” The trial has been controversial in Kosovo, as many Kosovo Albanians view the KLA and Thaci as revered figures for their role in the 1998-99 war of independence. Kosovo Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca condemned the verdict as “terrible”. and detrimental to Kosovo.” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted to the ruling on social media by posting an illustration of The Hague with the Albanian word “Marre,” which translates as “shame” or “disgrace.” In Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, thousands of people watched the reading of the ruling live on a giant screen and were stunned by the sentence. Some began shouting slogans in support of the KLA and Thaci. The Deputy Prime Minister and Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic called the verdicts a “warning” to Pristina “that a false state cannot be built on mass graves of murdered Serbs.” He said the conviction represents a “clear, if belated, confirmation of what Serbia and the Serbian people have been saying loudly for more than a quarter of a century: that the so-called KLA was a criminal and terrorist organization but its armed operations intensified in 1997 and.” 1998. Serbian forces responded with several large police and military operations, leading to a full-blown war in 1999, resulting in the deaths of some 13,000 people and the displacement of hundreds of thousands. During the war, Thaci was one of the heads of the KLA’s political and information leadership. Once the war ended, he became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kosovo and then served as President from 2016 to 2020. Thaci resigned in November 2020, after being indicted by the court. He and the other convicted commanders were transferred to prison in The Hague in November of that year. A supporter of former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci reacts after the Kosovo war crimes court found him guilty of war crimes, in The Hague, Netherlands, on September 16, 2026. [Omar Havana/Reuters]Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego reported from The Hague that the verdicts come as Kosovo faces a “political stalemate.” “There have been repeated elections to try to get some form of stable government so that they can achieve some kind of closer relationship with the European Union, but there have been repeated blockages and failures in the formation of that government,” he said. “This will simply be another obstacle on the path to stability.” “It cannot be understated how abject this decision is for Kosovo Albanians who see Hashem Thaci not only as the country’s former president, but also as a symbol of the liberation of Kosovo.” “Serb forces were involved in the murder of more than 10,000 civilians, many of them women and children, but most members of the Serbian forces have not been held accountable for these crimes. And today, we see very long sentences handed down to four members of the KLA,” he said. he said.Xharra said people in Kosovo could not forget the terror they had experienced before the war, when they were treated as second-class citizens simply because they belonged to a different ethnic group. “This court was seen as a court that tried only one ethnic group, the Kosovo Albanians. While that was not how the war in Kosovo went, most of the crimes were committed by Serbian forces. Of course, all victims must get justice, but this particular court makes sure that only one side is tried,” he told Al Jazeera.
