Kosovo Court Convicts Ex-President Thaci of War Crimes, Sentences Him to 25 Years
Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was convicted of four war crimes and sentenced to 25 years by a EU-backed court, prompting mixed reactions in North Mitrovica.
A European Union-backed court on Wednesday convicted former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci of four counts of war crimes committed during the country's 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia, sentencing him to 25 years in prison.
The verdict was delivered by a panel of judges at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. Thaci, 58, who resigned from office nearly six years ago to face the charges, was found guilty of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. He can appeal.
Thaci stood trial alongside three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who fought Serb forces during the conflict. All four had pleaded not guilty to every charge and are widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo.
The four were acquitted on six charges of crimes against humanity after judges ruled that prosecutors failed to prove the crimes were part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians. They were convicted of the war crimes of arbitrary detention of 385 people, cruel treatment of 49, torture of 303 detainees and the murder of 96 people.
The judgment marked a crushing blow for a man once embraced by the West, invited to the 1999 peace talks in France and seen as the leader who could guide Kosovo to independence.
In North Mitrovica, a town divided along ethnic lines, residents offered mixed reactions to the ruling. "A crime has a name and a surname, and what the court concluded today in its verdict is that crimes were committed in Kosovo and that we now have four individuals whom the court has found guilty," said local resident Branislav Krstic.
Another resident, Boban Simic, said the outcome was unlikely to satisfy anyone fully. "I believe that today's court ruling is such that no one will be completely satisfied with, there will be some that are only partially satisfied," he said. "On one hand, I think people in Kosovo will become aware that it has been proven the KLA committed certain criminal acts during the conflict in Kosovo, while the Serbian side, for its part, had expected harsher sentences."
Police were visible on the streets of North Mitrovica and on the bridge that divides the town's northern and southern halves, as residents went about their day following the verdict.