The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague sentenced former Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi to 25 years in prison on Wednesday for war crimes committed during the 1998–99 Kosovo war. The 58-year-old former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was found guilty of the arbitrary detention of at least 385 people, cruel treatment of at least 49, torture of at least 303, and the murder of 96 people. Three fellow senior KLA figures were convicted alongside him: former parliament speaker Jakup Krasniqi, also sentenced to 25 years; former parliament speaker Kadri Veseli, to 18 years; and former member of parliament Rexhep Selimi, to 13 years. All four were acquitted of crimes against humanity after judges ruled that prosecutors had not proven beyond reasonable doubt that civilians had been subjected to a widespread or systematic attack. All four have the right to appeal, and their lawyers say they intend to challenge the judgment.

The court, which was established specifically to try former KLA members under pressure from Kosovo's Western allies and is staffed by international judges due to doubts about the impartiality of Kosovo's own justice system, found that the four men were part of a joint criminal enterprise aimed at consolidating KLA control by targeting perceived opponents. These included members of rival political and military groups, people suspected of links to Serbian authorities, and members of non-Albanian communities such as Roma and Serbs. Presiding judge Charles Smith III stressed that the case was