Trial begins for Thaçi, Kosovo independence leader accused of war crimes

He Special Court for Kosovo in The Hague The trial against the former president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaciwho has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against him.

Thaçi and three co-defendants face ten counts of persecution, murder, torture and forced disappearance of people during and shortly after the insurgency of 1998 and 1999 which eventually made Kosovo independent from Serbia in 2008. Thaçi’s deeds made him a hero among many compatriots at home and abroad.

The prosecutor Alex Whiting has stated that the four had persecuted political opponentsas well as Serb and Roma ethnic minoritiesimprisoning hundreds of people across Kosovo in appalling conditions and murdering 102 of them. Most of the victims belonged to the ethnic Kosovo Albanian majority (90%).

“There can be no justification […] to arbitrarily detain civilians and persons hors de combat and subject them to ill-treatment, torture and murder. […] That is why the prosecution has presented this case, to vindicate the rule of law and the principle that no one is above the lawnot even in wartime,” Whiting declared.

The four defendants pleaded not guilty shortly after the start of the hearings. All of them were leaders of the old Kosovo Liberation Army (better known by UÇK, its initials in Albanian) and, already in times of peace, the main governors of the small Balkan country.

[Kosovo y Serbia anuncian un acuerdo para la normalización de sus relaciones bilaterales]

“I understand the accusation and I am totally innocent,” Thaçi, 54, told the court. Dressed in a dark pinstriped suit, Thaçi, tall and stocky, looked pale and more frayed after two years in detention.

It is believed that more than 13,000 people died during the insurgencymostly Kosovo Albanians, when Kosovo was still a province of Serbia under the then president Slobodan Milosevic.

Thousands of Kosovars gathered in the capital on Sunday, pristineto protest the trial, and hundreds gathered outside the courthouse in The Hague on Monday, carrying banners with the image of Thaçi and chanting “UÇK” in support of the movement independentista.

In Pristina, resident Nazmi Kelmendi declared on Monday to Reuters that “not only the UKK’s just war is being judged, but also the state of kosovo is on trial“. Another, Martin Çuni, stated: “Not only are these people being condemned, but effort is being condemnedthe war that the whole world supported”.

Thaçi resigned as president shortly after his impeachment in November 2020 and was transferred to a detention center in The Hague.

The trial could last for years.

During his time as a leader of the UÇK and a prominent politician, Thaçi collaborated closely with many Western leaders. Joe Biden, when he was Vice President of the United States, called him “the George Washington of Kosovo” and Thaçi was on his way to a meeting at Donald Trump’s White House when his indictment was announced.

“Your allies are on trial!”, read a protest banner at the concentration before the court in The Hague. The trial is likely to be long, as prosecutors said they would need Two years to submit your evidence.

He Special Court for Kosovobased in the Netherlands and staffed by international judges and lawyers, was created in 2015 to process cases against former UÇK guerrillas under Kosovar law.

[España no reconocerá a Kosovo como Estado, pero aceptará su bandera en la clasificación del Mundial]

Many Kosovars believe that the court is biased against the UÇK and tries to denigrate its record in paving the way for the liberation of Kosovo from Serb rule.

The court was created on the sidelines of the UN Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), also based in The Hague, which mainly tried and convicted Serb officers for war crimes in the conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Milošević was tried by the ICTY, but died in 2006 before a verdict was reached.