Former Kosovo President Thaçi sentenced in The Hague to 25 years in prison
In The Hague, Netherlands, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi to 25 years in prison for war crimes. As Daily Maverick reports, the 58-year-old Thaçi was found guilty of crimes committed when he was one of the leading commanders of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1990s.
The verdict and the crimes
The court found that Kosovo Liberation Army forces killed 96 political opponents and people believed to be collaborators with Serbian security forces during the conflict. Thaçi was also found guilty of the unlawful arbitrary detention of 385 people, the torture of 303 people, and cruel treatment of about 50 people.
Presiding Judge Charles Smith said that Thaçi “actively participated in and encouraged the crimes.” According to the judge, the scale and nature of the crimes committed were very serious. He also noted that the information on the basis of which many victims were arrested, detained and killed amounted to nothing more than unverified rumours.
Thaçi listened silently as the verdict was announced and denied all charges. He may appeal the court's decision.
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The positions of the parties and reaction
Prosecutors had requested 45-year prison sentences for Thaçi and three other former leading commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. At the same time, the three-judge panel dismissed six counts of crimes against humanity because prosecutors had not proven that these acts were part of widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population as a whole.
The court concluded that Thaçi and his co-defendants were participants in a joint criminal enterprise. According to the ruling, they had a common plan to establish control over Kosovo's politics after the declaration of independence by persecuting political opponents. Thaçi's defence called the charges unfounded and said there was no evidence of his direct connection to the crimes or control over other commanders.
In Pristina, thousands of people watching the verdict broadcast on a large screen booed the decision and chanted “Thaçi.” Police were preparing for possible unrest together with foreign peacekeeping forces, while the United States advised its citizens to avoid crowds.
