Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a special court in The Hague after being found criminally responsible for a series of war crimes, including the murder of 96 people. Thaçi, 58, was convicted alongside three other senior Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) figures following a three-year trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. According to a statement issued by the court on Wednesday, the trial panel found all four defendants criminally responsible for the arbitrary detention of 385 individuals, cruel treatment of 49 people, torture of 303 individuals, and the murder of 96 people. Thaçi was also convicted of other serious offences, while the court found insufficient evidence to support some charges, including certain crimes against humanity. The former president, who had previously maintained that he was “completely innocent,” showed no visible emotion as presiding judge Charles Smith delivered the verdict. Prosecutors had requested a 45-year sentence.
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