Thaci jailed for 25 years for war crimes

THE HAGUE

(AA Photo)

Hashim Thaçi, Kosovo’s former president, was found guilty of war crimes and jailed for 25 years by a tribunal in the Hague on Sept. 16, the court said in a long-awaited verdict likely to spark outrage in the Balkan country.

The judges said Thaçi was guilty of illegal arrests, torture, murder and cruel treatment.

Thaci was facing several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, along with three former commanders from the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a separatist militia that fought Serbian troops.Thaçi and the other former high-ranking commanders denied the charges.

The case is extremely contentious within Kosovo, where Thaçi remains a revered figure for many Kosovan Albanians due to his role in the 1998-99 independence war.

Most of the 13,000 people who died in the war in Kosovo were ethnic Albanians. A 78-day campaign of NATO air attacks against Serbian forces ended the fighting.

In 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, a move that Belgrade refuses to recognize.