Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 9, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 9, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleProsecutors demand a 45-year sentence for Kosovo's ex-president Thaci for war crimes during the 1998-99 uprising. Thaci denies the charges.
THE HAGUE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - International war crimes prosecutors said on Monday Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci controlled ethnic Albanian guerrillas and should be convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Thaci and three other ex-Kosovo Liberation Army commanders are charged with persecution, murder, torture and forced disappearances of people during and shortly after the 1998-99 uprising that eventually brought independence for the Albanian majority region from Serbia.
"The accused committed crimes against their perceived opponents to take control over Kosovo," prosecutor Kimberly West told the court in The Hague. She added that in 1998 and 1999 more than 100 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces were killed and hundreds abused in and around 50 detention camps run by the KLA.
"This case is about the four accused's goal to gain and exercise control over all of Kosovo," West said near the end of a nearly three-year trial at the special Kosovo war crimes court in The Hague.
Thaci, 57, who served as prime minister, foreign minister and president of independent Kosovo between 2008 and 2020, and his co-accused deny all the charges.
Lawyers for Thaci, expected to give their closing statements on Wednesday, earlier argued that Thaci had no real authority over the KLA and its military commanders during the uprising and its aftermath.
Prosecutors say Thaci and other KLA leaders waged a violent campaign targeting political opponents, as well as minority ethnic Serbs and Roma to gain full control of Kosovo.
Most victims of persecution were members of Kosovo's 90% ethnic Albanian majority, the prosecution said.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, staffed by international judges and lawyers, was set up in 2015 to handle war crimes cases under Kosovo law against ex-KLA guerrillas. Many Kosovars see the tribunal as biased against the KLA, and its leaders as heroes who liberated Kosovo from repressive Serbian rule.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; editing by Mark Heinrich)
A war crime is a serious violation of the laws and customs of war, which includes acts such as killing civilians, torture, and taking hostages.
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was an ethnic Albanian paramilitary organization that fought against Serbian forces during the Kosovo War from 1998 to 1999.
International prosecutors investigate and prosecute individuals accused of serious crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity, often in international courts.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers is a court established to handle war crimes cases related to the Kosovo War, operating under Kosovo law with international judges.
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