Hague court sentences former Kosovo president to 25 years in prison
The Hague, 16 September 2026 – The Special Court for Kosovo in The Hague has sentenced the former leader of the unrecognized republic, Hashim Thaci, to 25 years in prison.
Thaçi was charged with 10 counts related to the period of conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999. The court found the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army guilty of murder, torture, ill-treatment and unlawful deprivation of liberty. Previously, prosecutors had demanded up to 45 years in prison for Thaci and other defendants.
During the trial, it was established that Thaci was guilty, among other things, of the murder of 96 political opponents and alleged accomplices of Serbian security forces during the conflict. In addition to Thaci, three former high-ranking commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army appeared in court. Thaci and his associates – former speakers of parliament Yakup Krasnici and Kadri Veseli, as well as former MP from the Self-Determination Party Recep Selimi – were arrested by the prosecutor’s office of the special court in early November 2020. According to the indictment, all four were members of the Kosovo Liberation Army and as such were responsible for crimes during the armed conflict.
During the 1998-1999 war in Yugoslavia, Thaci was one of the leaders of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought against Serbian forces to seize the region. At the same time, a large part of the Albanian population of Kosovo considers Thaci and other commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army to be national heroes. It is worth noting that the Thaci and other militants who fought for the division of Yugoslavia into several parts, as in other similar cases, were supported, financed and supplied with weapons by the “democratic” West…
