Hague Court Delivers 25-Year Sentence to Kosovo's Former President Hashim Thaçi

THE HAGUE — Hashim Thaçi went from leading Kosovo's fight for independence to becoming the country's president. On Wednesday, that journey took a dramatic turn when a Hague court sentenced him to 25 years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998–99 conflict.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers found the 58-year-old former president guilty of four war crimes: murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention.

The judgment relates to abuses committed by members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) against people who were not taking part in the fighting.

Thaçi was also found responsible for crimes involving the detention of 385 people, torture of 303 people, cruel treatment of 49 people and the murder of 96 people, according to the court's findings.

But the judges did not accept every allegation brought by prosecutors.

Thaçi and his three co-accused were acquitted of six crimes against humanity charges, with the court finding that the prosecution had not proved those allegations beyond reasonable doubt.

The distinction is significant. The verdict establishes criminal responsibility for specific war crimes while rejecting part of the wider case against the former KLA leaders.

A historic fall for Kosovo's former leader

Thaçi was once one of the most recognisable faces of Kosovo's independence movement.

He was a senior commander and political leader within the KLA, the ethnic Albanian armed group that fought Serbian forces during the late-1990s conflict.

After the war, he moved from the battlefield into politics.

Thaçi became Kosovo's prime minister and later served as president. He was a central figure in the years leading to Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008.

For many Kosovars, that history has made him a symbol of the struggle for independence.

That support was visible in Pristina on Wednesday, where thousands gathered to follow the verdict. Supporters had expected the former KLA leaders to be acquitted, and demonstrations were held in the capital as the judgment was delivered.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti had previously described the KLA's war as a liberation struggle and said he hoped its former leaders would return home free.

The verdict has therefore reopened an uncomfortable question for Kosovo: how should a country remember leaders who helped secure its independence while confronting allegations of crimes committed during that struggle?

Three other KLA leaders also convicted

Thaçi was tried alongside three other senior former KLA figures: Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

The court sentenced Veseli to 18 years, Selimi to 13 years, and Krasniqi to 25 years.

All four had pleaded not guilty.

The trial began in April 2023 and involved a substantial body of evidence. According to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, 134 witnesses testified in court, while victims' representatives also presented evidence. The evidentiary phase ended in December 2025, followed by closing statements in February 2026.

The court had initially scheduled the judgment for July but extended the timetable before fixing September 16 as the date for the verdict, citing the complexity of the case and the volume of evidence that needed to be assessed.

What the court found

The case focused on alleged crimes committed between March 1998 and September 1999 in Kosovo and parts of northern Albania.

The prosecution argued that the four former KLA leaders bore individual criminal responsibility for crimes against civilians and others who were not taking part in hostilities.

The court ultimately found the accused guilty of the four war crimes charges that remained before it.

However, it rejected the broader crimes-against-humanity allegations, including claims relating to persecution and enforced disappearance, because the prosecution had not met the required standard of proof on those counts.

That means the judgment is neither a finding that every allegation made during the trial was proved nor an acquittal on the entire case.

Thaçi has denied the allegations

Thaçi has consistently denied the charges against him.

At the end of the trial, he told the judges that his life had been dedicated to Kosovo's freedom and said he had been guided by democratic values and justice.

His defence is expected to challenge the judgment through the appeals process.

The 25-year sentence is therefore not necessarily the final judicial word in the case.

A long road to accountability

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers were established under Kosovo law to prosecute allegations of crimes committed by members of the KLA during and after the 1998–99 conflict.

Although the court is based in The Hague and staffed by international judges, its legal foundation is rooted in Kosovo.

Thaçi and his three co-accused were transferred to the court's detention facilities in November 2020. The trial formally began in April 2023.

The verdict now places one of Kosovo's most influential post-war political figures on the other side of a historic divide.

For his supporters, Thaçi remains a leader of the independence struggle.

For the victims whose cases were examined in The Hague, the judgment represents a legal reckoning with crimes committed during that same conflict.

The court's decision does not erase Kosovo's struggle for independence. Nor does it settle every historical dispute surrounding the war.

It does, however, establish that Thaçi has been found criminally responsible for specific war crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The next chapter will be decided through the appeals process.

Category: International

About the Author

Maureen Onyango is a journalist passionate about storytelling, life coaching and spiritual lessons. She studied at the Kenya Institute of Management and enjoys telling stories that inform, inspire and empower communities.