War crimes sentence given to UCK commanders in The Hague

The decision hearing of the case in which the former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), former President of Kosovo Thaçi, and Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi are being tried in detention, was held in The Hague.

Thaçi and other UÇK commanders were found guilty of war crimes such as deprivation of liberty, torment, torture and intentional murder.

For these crimes, Thaçi and Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years in prison, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years in prison. Thousands of people who filled the squares of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, and other cities watched the decision hearing of the case in which UÇK commanders Thaçi, Krasniqi, Veseli and Selimi were tried in detention, on giant screens. The crowd was greatly saddened when the verdict in the case was announced.

The prosecutor's office had requested 45-year prison sentences for the UÇK commanders who were detained in The Hague. On the other hand, the second trial process in The Hague regarding Thaçi's accusation of threatening witnesses continues.

KOSOVO SPECIAL CHAMBERS AND SPECIAL PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

The special court and its Special Prosecutor's Office, also known as Kosovo Special Chambers and Special Prosecutor's Office, were established in The Hague but operate in accordance with Kosovo law.

This judicial body, established to investigate and prosecute war crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo between 1998 and 2000, consists of international judges and prosecutors.

The Special Prosecutor's Office had invited dozens of former members of the UCK to testify since the beginning of 2019.

The first indictment against UÇK commanders, Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaçi, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi, who have been detained in The Hague since April 3, 2023, was approved on October 26, 2020. It was claimed that those named in the indictment were responsible for the deaths of 100 people, and it was reported that the defendants were accused of war crimes such as murder, exile and torture.

KOSOVO WAR AND THE INDEPENDENCE PROCESS

In the Kosovo War, which took place between 1998 and 1999 and ended with NATO's land and air operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, formed by Serbia and Montenegro, more than 10 thousand Kosovars, mostly Albanians, were killed, and more than 1 million Kosovars belonging to different ethnic groups were forced to leave their homes.

The UÇK was founded by Kosovo Albanians in the 1990s with the aim of opposing Yugoslav forces and making Kosovo an independent country.

Following the end of the war, the UCK was dissolved and its commander and soldiers joined the country's newly created security institutions.

Kosovo declared its unilateral independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, but Serbia still considers Kosovo "its own territory".