Kosovo's ex-President Thaci sentenced to 25 years for war crimes

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has been found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison, a Kosovo war crimes tribunal ruled Wednesday.

Thaci, 58, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes including murder, torture and illegal detention committed as top commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the country's break from Serbia in the 1990s.

The panel found that all four accused shared a "common criminal purpose," contributed to it, and intended that the "relevant crimes associated with that common criminal purpose be committed."

The judge said for these reasons, the panel found that all four accused are "criminally responsible through their significant contribution to a joint criminal enterprise for the war crime of arbitrary detention" against 385 individuals, cruel treatment against 49 individuals, torture against 303 individuals and murder against 96 individuals.

Prosecutors at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague had asked for a maximum 45-year prison sentence for Thaci and the three other former high-ranking KLA commanders, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

Thaci and the other defendants had pleaded not guilty to war crimes and crimes against humanity after the initial indictment against the four was confirmed on Oct. 26, 2020.

Born in 1968, Thaci became the first prime minister of Kosovo from 2008 to 2014 and served as president from 2016 until his resignation in 2020.

Kosovo declared its unilateral independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008, but Serbia still sees Kosovo as its "own territory."