Thousands Protest Hashim Thaci War Crimes Conviction Across Kosovo

Thousands of people rallied across Kosovo on Friday to protest the conviction and prison sentence handed to former president Hashim Thaci and three former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders over war crimes committed during the 1998-99 conflict with Serbia.

Former KLA fighters and supporters organised demonstrations in nine cities, extending protests beyond the capital Pristina, where people had gathered since the verdict was announced on September 16. Thaci was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

Many protesters said the ruling was unjust and argued that the KLA had fought against Serbian forces during the conflict that eventually led to Kosovo’s independence. Demonstrators chanted support for the KLA and condemned the imprisonment of Thaci. Some wore military fatigues and carried the KLA’s red, black and gold flag.

“I came from Switzerland to take part in the protest,” former KLA member Bajram Shala said in the southern city of Ferizaj. “It is a stain on the nation’s history.”

The Hague-based court found Thaci and three other former senior KLA figures, Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi and Kadri Veseli, criminally responsible for murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. The court said Thaci was responsible for crimes including the murder of 96 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces, as well as the illegal detention of hundreds of people.

Krasniqi was also sentenced to 25 years, while Veseli received 18 years and Selimi 13 years. All four defendants have denied the charges and can appeal the verdicts. The judges dismissed six charges of crimes against humanity, saying prosecutors had not established that the alleged crimes formed part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians.

The protests also reflected long-running opposition in Kosovo to the Specialist Chambers, which was established under Kosovo law in 2015 after international pressure to prosecute former KLA members for alleged wartime and post-war crimes.

Protesters accused the court of political bias and questioned its use of evidence from Serbia, which does not recognise Kosovo’s independence.

“We oppose the court’s verdict against our heroes,” Drenas Mayor Ramiz Lladrovci told a crowd in central Kosovo. He called on Kosovo’s institutions to support the convicted former KLA leaders during the appeals process.

Thaci, who served as Kosovo’s president from 2016 to 2020 and prime minister from 2008 to 2014, resigned as president and surrendered to the court after his indictment in 2020. He has remained in detention in The Hague since then.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has described the ruling as an unacceptable injustice and said his government would support the defendants through the appeals process.

The conflict between Serbian forces and the KLA claimed thousands of lives before NATO intervention in 1999 led to the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo.