Hashim Thaci, the former Kosovo Liberation Army commander who later became Kosovo's president, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia.
The international tribunal in The Hague delivered its verdict on Wednesday after trying Thaci alongside three other former Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, guerrilla leaders. Thaci, 58, was found guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and people seen as collaborators with Serbian security forces.
The tribunal also convicted him over the illegal detention of 385 people and the torture of more than 300 people. It ruled that Thaci “actively participated in and encouraged crimes”.
Prosecutors had alleged that KLA forces killed more than 100 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces during and just after the Kosovo war. The tribunal's findings establish Thaci's criminal responsibility for the crimes set out in the verdict.
Thaci rose to prominence as a KLA commander during the conflict. He later became a central figure in Kosovo's political life and was instrumental in the country's 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia.
The conviction places the wartime conduct of one of Kosovo's most prominent political leaders before an international court. It also follows a trial that examined allegations against Thaci and three other former KLA leaders in The Hague.
The brief does not state whether Thaci will appeal his conviction or sentence. It also gives no outcome for the three other former KLA leaders tried with him, or details of reactions to Wednesday's verdict in Kosovo or elsewhere.
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