Kosovo tribunal set to rule on Thaci and former KLA commanders
Verdicts are due in the case against former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci and three wartime commanders, with prosecutors seeking 45-year prison terms for each.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers is due to deliver verdicts on Wednesday in the case against former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci and former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi and Kadri Veseli.
The four men face allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and persecution, relating to Kosovo’s 1998–99 war. All deny the charges.
Prosecutors have requested 45-year prison sentences for each defendant. Thaci’s lawyers argued in February that no evidence directly linked him to the alleged crimes.
The case has become a test of accountability for senior figures from Kosovo’s wartime leadership. Tens of thousands of people rallied in Pristina on Saturday calling for the men to be acquitted, according to the report.
About 13,000 people died during the war, most of them ethnic Albanians, while NATO air attacks against Serbian forces brought the fighting to an end. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade does not recognise the move and tensions between the two sides remain.
