Hashim Thaci War Crimes Trial

The story so far

As of September 16, 2026

An EU‑supported Kosovo court based in The Hague has convicted former president Hashim Thaci, 58, of four war‑crimes counts and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Judges found him responsible for the murder of 96 people and for torture, cruel treatment and unlawful detention carried out by Kosovo Liberation Army members during the 1998–99 war. Three former KLA leaders tried with him were also convicted: Jakup Krasniqi received 25 years, Kadri Veseli 18 years and Rexhep Selimi 13, for a total of 81 years.

The case now sits at the point where law and national memory meet. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers were created by Kosovo’s parliament to prosecute KLA crimes and were placed in The Hague to limit witness intimidation and political pressure. Inside Kosovo, the KLA is widely honored as a liberation force, which helps explain the crowds in Pristina waving KLA flags and the shock when the guilty verdicts were read on big screens in the capital.

The ruling has already moved from courtroom to street and into regional politics. Supporters rallied before the decision and again afterward; in Pristina a group pushed through fencing at the European mission’s headquarters, and outside the courthouse in The Hague police and demonstrators clashed, with officers using water cannon. Kosovo officials criticized the judgment while France voiced support for the court; Serbian officials responded quickly, treating the decision as validation of their long‑held claims about KLA abuses.

Next comes an appeal, which both the defense and the prosecution can file. Prosecutors had sought 45‑year terms, and the panel set lower sentences, keeping the length of punishment in play. The finding that anchors everything else is that a Kosovo‑created, EU‑backed court has ruled KLA leaders directed crimes that killed 96 people and abused detainees, including perceived political opponents and collaborators. That conclusion, more than any single number of years, is what the protests and the politics are now organized around.