Kosovar Albanian Hashim Thaçi (1968) lived as a refugee in Zurich in the late 90s, where he studied History and Political Science at university. Graduated in Philosophy in Pristina, he had fled Yugoslavia a few years earlier, after having led the student protests against the loss of autonomy for Kosovo that Slobodan Milosevic had decided. In March 1998, Thaçi returned home clandestinely to fight in the war between Serbs and Kosovars. The Serpent, as he was nicknamed for his ability to elude Serbian forces, became the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). After the proclamation of independence in 2008, which Serbia does not recognize - nor does Spain -, he was its prime minister (2008-2014) and president (2016-2020). His next destination was a prison in The Hague.
Today, in the Dutch city, one of the last major sentences related to the Balkan wars of the 1990s was read early this morning. The former Kosovo president has been found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes that include murder, torture and illegal detention, committed when he served as top commander of the KLA.
The court has found that Thaçi, who remained silent during the reading, is guilty of the murder by KLA forces during the conflict of 96 political opponents and people considered to be collaborators of the Serbian security forces.
His co-religionists Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, also accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity (including murder, torture and persecution), will also receive their verdict.
Prosecutors at the Kosovo Special Chambers in The Hague had requested a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison for the four defendants, who deny the charges against them. According to the prosecution, during their time in the KLA, the defendants targeted political rivals and civilians whom they considered collaborators and traitors.
"Throughout my life, I stood alongside the people of Kosovo defending freedom, life and dignity. I was always guided by Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice," Thaçi declared before the magistrates last February, according to the AP agency, when the trial that lasted for three years ended. Thaçi faces another trial on charges of witness intimidation, scheduled to begin later this month.
On Saturday, some 100,000 people demonstrated in the Kosovo capital called by a civic platform to demand that the verdict be innocent and vigils were held last night. Portraits of the four former KLA fighters wallpaper the city alongside a huge digital clock counting down to the verdicts. "In the name of the people, declare them innocent," read one banner. The platform announced that there will be a similar concentration today, according to Efe.
It was in 2020 when the Specialized Prosecutor's Office in The Hague announced the accusations against him and the judges admitted them. Thaçi then resigned from the Presidency of the Republic and surrendered for transfer to the Scheveningen penitentiary center (The Hague), where he remains imprisoned.
On the other side of the border, in Serbia, many were awaiting sentencing. See if the same standard was applied as to the Serbs judged by international courts for those wars. "No matter what happens, many will be disappointed," Croatian Iva Vukusic, professor of International History at the University of Utrecht, expert in international courts and author of the book Serbian Paramilitaries and the Breakup of Yugoslavia State Connections and Patterns of Violence, told EL MUNDO yesterday.
"They are always the subject of dispute"
"Trials for war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity are always the subject of dispute," explains Vukusic, "they are framed in post-conflict scenarios and societies where there are open wounds, resentments and painful memories to deal with." "The crucial thing is to remember that trials go far beyond the sentence itself: they also revolve around the evidence presented and the proven facts," he highlights.
The Kosovo Specialized Chambers, in charge of the trial, are part of a hybrid court, supported by the European Union. They are governed by Kosovo legislation, but they have international staff and the headquarters is the city of The Hague, the same city where the court that tried Milosevic or Ratko Madlic was located. The location is due to the necessary protection of witnesses and the guarantee of institutional impartiality. "It is essential to understand - this expert continues - that what is going to happen in The Hague is a legal exercise limited to certain individual defendants and certain specific crimes, not a general verdict on the Kosovar forces as a whole or the Kosovar people in general."
After the controversial funeral with honors for Madlic last week in Belgrade, convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity in the Bosnian war, this sentence returns to the foreground what happened in the wars that tore the region apart 30 years ago.
"A multitude of political forces will try to take it to their territory in one direction or another. I hope that citizens do not allow themselves to continue being manipulated. They read the sentences, listen to independent analyses, examine the evidence and, from there, judge what is fair," adds this professor. Because, he concludes, "that someone is acquitted sometimes means that the crime was committed by someone else or that there was not enough evidence. Crimes can also be committed in defensive wars. It is a complex issue and I trust that people will take the time to understand it better."
Vucic will follow the reading of the verdict
The embassies of the US, France and the United Kingdom in Pristina have urged their citizens to avoid traveling near places where demonstrations are taking place. They have also warned of possible road closures in the center of the Kosovo capital and in other cities, and have recommended their staff not to take their children to school, reports the Kosovo newspaper Koha.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, for his part, declared that he intended to follow the reading of the verdict live, Efe reports. He claimed to be "concerned" about the rallies held in support of the accused and added that he had exchanged letters on the matter with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. "It is very important to preserve peace and guarantee the security of our population," Vucic said, referring to the Serbian minority living in Kosovo.
As reported by public television RTK, the Kosovo Police has coordinated with the NATO force in Kosovo (KFOR), the civil mission of the European Union (EULEX), the United States embassy, the office of the European Union (EU) and the OSCE in view of the verdict.
The sentences come at a delicate political time for Kosovo. Parliament narrowly re-elected the government of Prime Minister, left-wing nationalist Albin Kurti, on Sunday, following early elections in June. But two opposition parties yesterday asked the Constitutional Court to annul the vote due to failure to meet deadlines, according to Efe.
Furthermore, the presidential candidate, Bekim Sejdiu, agreed in August between Kurti and the opposition Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), withdrew his candidacy last night, after six LDK deputies refused to support him.
