Hague Court Convicts Kosovo Liberation Army Leaders of War Crimes
Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three fellow ex-guerrilla leaders were given lengthy prison sentences for war crimes including arbitrary detention, torture and murder during the 1998-99 conflict.
The Hague's Kosovo Specialist Chambers has convicted four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army of war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 conflict with Serbia. According to Politico EU, Hashim Thaci, the former President of Kosovo, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes including arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture, and murder.
Thaci and three others, Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi, and Kadri Veseli, were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court dropped the crimes against humanity charges, finding insufficient evidence of widespread and systematic attacks on civilians. Krasniqi and Veseli were sentenced to 25 and 18 years respectively, while Selimi received a 13-year sentence.
The convictions and sentences were handed down after the court found the four men responsible for various war crimes. Following the ruling, family members of the convicted men expressed their disagreement, with Thaci's brother stating the family is convinced of his innocence and awaiting the appeal.
Brief written by urgent.news from Balkan Insight, Politico EU — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
