Hashim Thaçi, former president of Kosovo, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a special court in The Hague for war crimes committed during the struggle for independence from Serbian rule.
Foreign news agencies reported that Hashim Thaçi, former president of Kosovo, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in The Hague after being found guilty of war crimes committed during Kosovo's independence war from Serbian rule in the 1990s, which resulted in more than 10,000 deaths.
The 58-year-old Thaçi was found guilty after a nearly three-year trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on charges including murder, unlawful detention, torture, and cruel abuse, while several other allegations lacked sufficient evidence to confirm guilt.
Thaçi was a co-founder and commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a group fighting for independence, and is hailed as a hero in Kosovo. However, he was accused of killing nearly 100 civilians and committing other abuses, including enforced disappearances.
Thaçi stood trial alongside three other former KLA commanders who faced similar charges.
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was formed in the early 1990s as an armed group of ethnic Albanians in an area then still a province of Serbia. During the war, the group was accused of launching attacks against the local Serbian minority.
Thaçi became Kosovo’s first prime minister when independence was declared in 2008, later serving as president before resigning in 2020 to face charges in The Hague.
Thousands of people gathered in Kosovo to watch the verdict live on large screens; in Pristina, the capital, many wept upon hearing the decision.
It is expected that Thaçi’s legal team will file an appeal. Meanwhile, he will remain detained at the special court’s facility. The time he has been held since his arrest and transfer to The Hague in late 2020 will be deducted from his 25-year sentence.
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Source:bbc