Former President Thaci protests his innocence before the Kosovo tribunal

Nearly 25 years after the Kosovo war, the country’s former president, Hashim Thaci, 54, has dismissed charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against him.

“I am not guilty,” Thaci told the judges of the Kosovo Special Tribunal in The Hague on Monday at the start of the war crimes trial against him and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders. The militia fought for independence from Serbia in the 1998/99 Kosovo War.

According to the indictment, the four men formed the leadership of the Kosovo Albanian militia. They are charged with murder, torture, kidnapping and persecution, among other things. More than 100 people were killed, according to chief prosecutor Alex Whiting. Most of the victims were Kosovar Albanians. They were accused of collaborating with Serbs or viewed as opponents of the KLA.

Thaci is the first former senior political figure from Kosovo to be tried in the Special Court. “No one is above the law,” said Chief Prosecutor Whiting. Thaci resigned as president in 2020 shortly after the court’s indictment was announced, arrested a little later and handed over to the court in The Hague. More than 300 witnesses would testify at the trial. The process is expected to take two years.

From 1998 to 1999, the KLA fought Serb forces to gain independence from Serbia for predominantly Albanian Kosovo. This was eventually achieved with the help of NATO.

The special tribunal was established in 2015 under international pressure. It is part of Kosovo’s judicial system, but staffed by international judges and prosecutors. It was moved to The Hague for security reasons. Witnesses in Kosovo continue to be threatened, the chief prosecutor said. (aeg/sda/dpa)