The verdict on former KLA leaders: Details of guilt and acquittal

After more than 41 months of judicial proceedings, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague delivered their verdict on September 16 concerning four former senior leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi were found guilty of war crimes.

The trial panel heard 273 witnesses and examined around 5,500 material exhibits before finding them guilty of four criminal offenses: unlawful or arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture and unlawful killing.

Former President Thaçi and former Assembly Speaker Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison. Veseli, also a former Assembly Speaker, received an 18-year sentence, while former MP Selimi was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

However, the court acquitted all four of the six charges of crimes against humanity, which included persecution, imprisonment, other inhumane acts, torture, unlawful killing and enforced disappearance of persons.

They were also found not guilty of a number of specific incidents included in the indictment under the war crimes charges.

What was proven regarding the war crimes?

According to the court, between April 1998 and June 20, 1999, KLA members arbitrarily deprived at least 385 people of their liberty, labeling them “collaborators,” “spies” or “traitors.”

In most cases, the trial panel emphasized, there was no evidence that these individuals had been involved in criminal activity, combat or activities that would have posed a real threat to security.

The detainees were not given any official notification of the reasons for their deprivation of liberty, were not brought promptly before a judicial body or other legal authority, and had no opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

Regarding the conditions of detention, the court established that people deprived of their liberty were held in harsh, overcrowded conditions, without sufficient food or water, without medical assistance and, in some cases, handcuffed or chained.

It was also established that many of them had been beaten with kicks, rifle butts, sticks, iron rods and other implements. Some were forced to watch other detainees being mistreated, while others were subjected to mock executions and threatened with death.

In 49 cases, the court found that cruel treatment had occurred, while 303 people were proven to have been tortured.

Regarding the killings, the trial panel found that at least 96 people had been killed by KLA members in 12 municipalities in Kosovo and at one location in northern Albania. According to the court, the victims were killed with firearms or died as a result of brutal beatings.

Reasons for the acquittal on crimes against humanity

Unlike the war crimes, for which criminal responsibility was established, the court assessed that not all the criteria required by law had been met in relation to the crimes against humanity.

The court accepted that KLA members had committed acts of violence and mistreatment against civilians in Kosovo and in parts of northern Albania. According to the court, these acts formed part of a widespread or systematic attack.

However, for acts to be legally classified as crimes against humanity, it is not enough for them to be numerous or organized. It must be proven that the attack targeted a civilian population as a whole, meaning that civilians were targeted as members of a particular group, rather than merely as isolated individuals.

According to the trial panel, this was precisely the element that the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The court concluded that the victims had mainly been selected for individual reasons, for example because of their identity, actions or alleged affiliations, and not because they belonged to a civilian population targeted collectively.

Consequently, although a widespread or systematic attack against civilians was established, the court did not find the essential element required to classify it as a crime against humanity. As a result, all four defendants were acquitted of the six relevant charges.

The court established a “common criminal purpose”

The trial panel concluded that Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi, together with other figures in the KLA leadership, sought Kosovo’s independence and the establishment of political and institutional control over an independent state.

According to the court, in order to achieve these objectives, they shared the view that certain people who were seen as obstacles should be targeted, eliminated or neutralized.

According to the court, these people included members or representatives of other political and military forces, particularly individuals linked to the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosovo (FARK), people considered to be linked to the Serbian authorities, as well as members of the Roma and Serbian communities.

The court found that this common purpose was carried out through killings, arrests and detentions without due legal process, physical and psychological mistreatment, intimidation and the use of what the judgment described as “special warfare.”

The trial panel stressed that the crimes were not the product of personal vendettas, uncontrolled groups or isolated actions, but formed part of a plan drawn up by the accused and other individuals and implemented during the conflict.

The court also mentioned several other well-known KLA figures, Lahi Brahimaj, Fatmir Limaj, Sylejman Selimi, Rrustem Mustafa, Latif Gashi, Shukri Buja and Sabit Geci, whom it said were aware of this common criminal purpose, had agreed to it and had participated in its implementation.

The judgment nevertheless underlines that no finding of guilt was made against these seven individuals in this case and that they continue to enjoy the presumption of innocence.

Determining individual responsibility

The court assessed that the four accused had made a substantial contribution to the implementation of this common purpose and, on that basis, found them criminally responsible for the four war crimes.

Regarding Thaçi, the court stated that he had played a central role in formulating and executing the common purpose and found that he had been personally involved in several of the crimes, including the case of Behajdin Allaqi.

Regarding Veseli, the court highlighted his role as head of the KLA Intelligence Directorate, an organ that, according to the findings, was responsible for identifying, monitoring and eliminating people suspected of being “collaborators.” According to the court, he took no measures to prevent, investigate or punish the crimes, even though he was aware of them.

Regarding Selimi, the trial panel confirmed his substantial contribution to implementing the common purpose, noting that his position as the KLA’s inspector general gave him less authority over other members compared with some of his co-defendants.

As for Krasniqi, the court established that he had used his position, leadership role, power and status to implement the criminal aspects of the common purpose.

Next steps

The verdict is subject to appeal, and the defense teams of the four convicted men have announced that they will challenge it before the appeals court.

Thaçi’s lawyer, Pierre-Richard Prosper, called the judgment a “parody of justice” and announced that its overturning would be sought on appeal.

He warned that the appeals process could take several years.