Image: KOEN VAN WEEL (APA/AFP/ANP/KOEN VAN WEEL)
The 54-year-old pleaded not guilty to all charges on Monday. The former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) is standing with three other accused before a special tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, which is dealing with crimes committed during the Kosovo war in the late 1990s.
Thaci faces 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including nearly 100 murders, torture and disappearance. Some of the acts are said to have been committed after the end of hostilities. The three former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who were also accused had previously declared that they were innocent.
At the end of the 1990s, the KLA fought for the independence of Kosovo, when it was still a province of Serbia under the late Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. More than 13,000 people, most of them belonging to Kosovo’s Albanian majority, are said to have died during the uprising. Among his supporters, Thaci is considered a war hero who led Kosovo to independence.
Established in 2015, the special tribunal deals specifically with crimes committed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. In 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. However, the government in Belgrade still considers it a Serbian province.
Source: Nachrichten
