Kosovo's Former President Hashim Thaci Sentenced to 25 Years for War Crimes

THE VERDICT

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday after the European Union-backed Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague found him guilty of war crimes committed during the country's 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia. Thaci resigned from the presidency nearly six years ago specifically to face the charges. He was convicted on four counts: murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. Wearing a suit and tie, he stood in silence as presiding Judge Charles Smith read out the sentence.

WHAT HE WAS CONVICTED OF

Judges found Thaci and his co-defendants responsible for the murder of 96 people, the torture of 303 detainees, the cruel treatment of 49 people and the arbitrary detention of 385 others, crimes committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army during its fight against Serbian forces. Smith said Thaci "used his position, leadership, authority and standing" to encourage the crimes and failed to investigate or punish abuses by KLA fighters, showing what the judge called "a ruthless ability to remove and eliminate political impediments" to his and other commanders' leadership. The court found no evidence that the victims were actually spies or collaborators, ruling that having "Serbian friends or jobs in Serbian companies was enough" for them to be targeted. The four defendants were acquitted on six separate charges of crimes against humanity, with judges ruling prosecutors had not proven the crimes were part of a widespread, systematic attack on civilians. Smith was careful to note the trial was "not about the legitimacy" of the KLA or its goal of Kosovo's independence.

THE OTHER DEFENDANTS

Thaci stood trial alongside three other former KLA leaders widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo, all of whom pleaded not guilty. Kadri Veseli was sentenced to 18 years, Jakup Krasniqi to 25 years and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years. Veseli's lawyer, Rodney Dixon, called the judgment "not a good day for Kosovo" or "for the rule of law or international law," and said he would "mount a robust appeal."

REACTION ON BOTH SIDES

The verdict split reaction sharply along the region's old fault lines. Kosovo's Foreign Minister, Glauk Konjufca, condemned it as "a terrible judgment for Kosovo, for our people and for our liberation war." Thousands watched the hearing on a large screen in the capital, Pristina, some shouting "UCK," the Albanian-language acronym for the KLA. Hundreds of Thaci supporters gathered near the courthouse in The Hague, where some clashed briefly with Dutch riot police, who said on X that two people were detained; masked protesters later threw stones at an EU Rule of Law Mission compound in Pristina, smashing windows. One supporter, Bekim Fetahu, called the verdict "a catastrophic decision," saying judges had "put the victims together with the aggressors." In Belgrade, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia had "no reason to rejoice," arguing the verdict ignored other alleged crimes against ethnic Serb civilians. Specialist Prosecutor Kimberly West welcomed the outcome, saying individuals who "exploited those war circumstances to commit grave crimes" were "now being held accountable," and Amnesty International's Esther Major said the conviction shows "senior officials are not above the law."

THE BROADER HISTORY

Most of the roughly 13,000 people killed in the Kosovo war were ethnic Albanians, and about 1 million ethnic Albanian Kosovars were driven from their homes before a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbian forces ended the fighting. Thaci, who earned the nickname "the Snake" for evading Serb forces during the war, rose from KLA commander to Kosovo's presidency before resigning to defend himself at trial. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade still does not recognize, and relations between the two remain tense despite years of EU-mediated talks.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both Thaci and prosecutors, who had sought a tougher sentence, are entitled to appeal. Veseli's legal team has already signaled it will fight the ruling, meaning the case is likely to extend well beyond this week's verdict even as it reshapes how Kosovo's independence movement is remembered on both sides of its border with Serbia.