Hague Court Sentences Thaci, Krasniqi to 25 Years

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague issued its first instance verdict on Wednesday, September 16, against four former commanders of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Hashim Thaci and Jakup Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years in prison each, Kadri Veseli to 18 years, and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years. Time already spent in the custody of the Specialist Chambers, where all four have been held since their arrest in November 2020, counts toward each sentence.

The verdict had been scheduled for 10 a.m. The indictment contained ten counts, six for crimes against humanity (persecution, imprisonment, other inhumane acts, torture, murder and enforced disappearance of persons) and four for war crimes (unlawful and arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder). The panel acquitted all four defendants on the crimes against humanity counts, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population, and also acquitted them on some of the war crimes counts.

The convictions cover the remaining war crimes: the arbitrary detention of at least 385 people, cruel treatment of 49 people, torture of 303 people and the murder of 96 people who, according to the panel’s findings, had not actively taken part in hostilities. Ahead of the verdict, Serbian News had reported on heightened measures taken by Kosovo police (“Kosovo Police Cancels Leave Ahead of Thaci Verdict in The Hague”), and security measures on the day of the ruling were confirmed on the ground as well.

According to the panel’s findings, the crimes were committed from at least March 1998 to September 1999 at more than 40 locations in Kosovo, as well as in the towns of Kukes and Cahan in northern Albania. The victims, according to the indictment, included Serbs, Roma and Ashkali, as well as Albanians whom the KLA considered opponents, supporters of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and people linked to the so-called FARK.

Thaci received 15 years for arbitrary detention, four for cruel treatment, 20 for torture and 23 for murder, merged into a single sentence of 25 years. The panel set Krasniqi’s individual sentences at the same levels, with the same single sentence of 25 years. Veseli was sentenced to 10 years for detention, three for cruel treatment, 13 for torture and 16 for murder, with a single sentence of 18 years. Selimi received six years for detention, two for cruel treatment, eight for torture and 11 for murder, with a single sentence of 13 years.

Presiding judge Charles Smith stressed while reading out the verdict that the proceedings did not concern the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army or its goal of an independent Kosovo.

The trial was not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army and its goal, an independent Kosovo, but about the use of certain criminal means by some of its members to achieve those goals.

According to a statement from the Specialist Chambers, Judge Smith made that point to explain why the panel had confined itself to the counts in the indictment rather than the question of the armed struggle’s legitimacy.

The trial opened on April 3, 2023. Over its course, 273 witnesses testified and the panel admitted 5,467 pieces of evidence. The transcript runs to 29,238 pages. The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) had sought a 45 year sentence for each of the four defendants.

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca, who followed the ruling in The Hague, said just before it was delivered that he expected a different outcome. “We are waiting for the decision, an acquittal,” Konjufca said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the Alliance would remain in Kosovo regardless of the trial’s outcome. “The Alliance continues to be present in Kosovo, with a constant assessment of the best way to organize and compose KFOR, as well as how the mission can best adapt to the situation on the ground,” Rutte said.

At Skanderbeg Square in Pristina, where a mass gathering had been announced, reports from the scene described a surprisingly small crowd, some of whom had spent the night at the square wrapped in KLA flags. After the verdict was delivered, the crowd moved toward the Grand Hotel chanting slogans tied to the KLA and to Thaci, and several cannon-like blasts were heard. Veton Elshani, deputy director of Kosovo Police for the northern region, told reporters that the situation was calm, that the operational plan was in effect and that there was currently no security risk. KFOR, EULEX, the US Embassy, the EU Office and the OSCE all took part in drawing up that plan alongside Kosovo Police.

A separate case against Thaci is proceeding in parallel over obstruction of justice. On September 10 the prosecution requested a six year sentence, arguing that Thaci and his associates had spent months trying to influence witness testimony in the main case. A verdict in that case has not yet been issued.

Today’s ruling is a first instance verdict, and the parties have the right to appeal. Whether and when an appeals panel will rule on the sentences, and what the outcome of the separate obstruction of justice case will be, remains open.