by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
THE HAGUE/BELGRADE/PRISTINA (Worthy News) – Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaçi and three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) say they are preparing to challenge their war-crimes convictions by a special court in the Dutch city of The Hague.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), a Kosovo court based in The Hague, convicted the four men on September 16 of war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict. Prosecutors said they would also review the full judgment, including the men’s acquittal on six counts of crimes against humanity.
Thaçi, 58, and fellow former KLA leaders Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi were found guilty of illegal or arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder.
The court sentenced Thaçi and Krasniqi to 25 years in prison, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years, with credit for time already served. All four had denied the charges.
HELD SINCE 2020
The four men have been held in The Hague since their arrests and transfer to the court’s detention facilities on November 4 and 5, 2020, after an indictment against them was confirmed.
The Trial Panel held them criminally responsible for the arbitrary detention of 385 people, cruel treatment of 49, torture of 303 and the murder of 96 people. Victims included Kosovo Albanians perceived as KLA opponents, people accused of links to Yugoslav or Serbian authorities, and members of ethnic minorities, including Serbs and Roma.
The convictions stem from the Kosovo war, in which the ethnic Albanian KLA fought forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then consisting of Serbia and Montenegro. Yugoslav army units and Serbian police and security forces fought to retain Belgrade’s control over Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians formed the overwhelming majority of the population.
The armed conflict ended in 1999 after a 78-day bombing campaign by the NATO military alliance prompted Yugoslav and Serbian forces to withdraw from Kosovo province. Kosovo eventually declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade still refuses to recognize it as an independent state.
ACQUITTED ON OTHER COUNTS
The Trial Panel acquitted the four men of crimes against humanity, ruling that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that there had been a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.
Lawyers for the defendants said they would appeal. Thaçi’s lawyer, Pierre-Richard Prosper, has argued that the court failed to properly consider evidence that the KLA was decentralized and that regional commanders exercised substantial authority.
The ruling has triggered sharply different reactions in Kosovo and Serbia, underscoring how the wounds of the conflict have yet to fully heal more than a quarter-century after the fighting ended.
In Belgrade, Serbian officials welcomed the war-crimes convictions but criticized the acquittals on crimes-against-humanity charges. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić accused the international community of “double standards,” while Interior Minister Ivica Dačić called the convictions a belated confirmation of Serbia’s longstanding allegations about crimes committed by KLA members.
KOSOVO REACTION
In Kosovo, where many ethnic Albanians regard the KLA as a liberation movement that ended Serbian rule, the verdict has caused anger and disappointment among supporters of the former guerrilla leadership.
The court itself stressed that the proceedings concerned the individual criminal responsibility of the defendants rather than the legitimacy of the KLA or Kosovo’s struggle for independence.
Under the Specialist Chambers’ rules, the parties have 30 days from notification of the written judgment to file notices of appeal. Prosecutors could also challenge the acquittals on the crimes-against-humanity counts.
Thaçi faces a separate case in The Hague over alleged offenses against the administration of justice, including accusations of interference with witnesses. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
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