Former Kosovo leader is war criminal rules EU-backed court, tearing open old Western Balkans wounds

Former Kosovo leader Hashim Thaçi (left) with then EU Council president Charles Michel in Brussels on 16 February 2020 (Source: EU Council )

EU and the World

Unlock article and share
By Andrew Rettman,

Once an EU darling who was regularly invited to Brussels, Kosovo’s former prime minister and president, Hashim Thaçi, will spend the next 20 years in prison for war crimes, after a trial which tore open old wounds in the Western Balkans.

Thaçi and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) he led during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War used to be seen as heroic defenders against Serb pogroms.

But the Kosovo Specialist Chamber, an EU-funded court in The Hague, said on Wednesday (16 September) that he and three other KLA commanders were responsible for “torture against 303 individuals and murder against 96 individuals”.

They murdered Albanians, Serbs, and Roma people in Kosovo whom they had claimed were Serb collaborators, based on “little more than unverified rumours”, most of whom were “innocent civilians”, the court said.

Some victims were minors or elderly people, while others were forced to “witness the mistreatment or killing of their family members”, it added.

Thaçi himself, who stayed silent on Wednesday in his suit and tie, “personally participated in crimes, including the arrest, arbitrary detention, and interrogation of 13 parliamentarians and the arrest, detention, transfer, and murder of Behajdin Allaqi [an Albanian intellectual and KLA member]”, said the court.

To read this story, log in or subscribe

Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.

Read without limits
Already a subscriber? Login
Unlock article and share

Latest from Kosovo

‘I would have ethnically cleansed Kosovo in 1998’, says Serbian minister – opening a Balkan Pandora’s Box

Latest from Rule of Law

Von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech risks making border pushbacks ‘normal’ EU migration policy

Top Russian oligarch Abramovich loses third EU lawsuit, as Brussels plans tougher blacklist

Latest from EU and the World

Von der Leyen set to cave into Greek asylum busting demands

Canada’s Carney gets the red carpet treatment and EU ‘associate member’ offer

Former Kosovo leader Hashim Thaçi (left) with then EU Council president Charles Michel in Brussels on 16 February 2020 (Source: EU Council )

Topics

• Kosovo+ Follow topic by email
• Rule of Law+ Follow topic by email

Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver’s foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.

+ Follow author by email