https://sputnikglobe.com/20230403/kosovo-ex-president-thaci-accused-of-war-crimes-over-100-murders-in-hague-court-1109093616.html
Kosovo Ex-President Thaci Accused of War Crimes, Over 100 Murders in Hague Court
Kosovo Ex-President Thaci Accused of War Crimes, Over 100 Murders in Hague Court
Sputnik International
Ex-Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three of his co-defendants have been charged with war crimes during the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo and northern Albania that claimed the lives of over 100 people, the SPO said on Monday.
2023-04-03T23:31+0000
2023-04-03T23:31+0000
2023-04-03T23:31+0000
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the hague
hashim thaci
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Earlier in the day, a special court in The Hague, known as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, launched hearings on Thaci's war crimes case. Thaci served as commander-in-chief of the Albanian-led Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a separatist group aspiring to gain the status of a constituent republic in what was then Yugoslavia, and three other former top KLA members, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, who pleaded not guilty to all counts. The hearings will take place from April 3-5 and will be attended by 140 prosecution witnesses, who are victims or had their loved ones suffer from the actions of Thaci and the KLA. SPO prosecutors said the crimes were committed systematically and continuously "to carry out a joint criminal purpose." Prosecutors showed a map indicating camps in KLA "operational zones," as well as facilities where victims, including agricultural workers, teachers, journalists, and political opponents, were held in inhumane conditions and tortured. Each of the defendants is charged individually with six counts of crimes against humanity: persecution, deprivation of liberty, inhumane treatment, torture, murder, enforced disappearance of persons; as well as four counts of war crimes: unlawful imprisonment, cruel treatment, torture, and murder. During 2018-2019, up to 200 former KLA members were summoned to The Hague to testify in war crimes cases. Among them was former KLA commander and former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned in 2019 and then voluntarily went to The Hague, but exercised his right to remain silent and returned to Kosovo's capital of Pristina. Thaci also voluntarily went to The Hague after resigning as Kosovo's leader in 2020 due to war crimes indictment.
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hashim thaci, ex-kosovo president hashim thaci, war crimes, the hague, the hague court, specialist prosecutor's office, spo, albanian-led kosovo liberation army, kla
hashim thaci, ex-kosovo president hashim thaci, war crimes, the hague, the hague court, specialist prosecutor's office, spo, albanian-led kosovo liberation army, kla
Kosovo Ex-President Thaci Accused of War Crimes, Over 100 Murders in Hague Court
BELGRADE (Sputnik) - Ex-Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three of his co-defendants have been charged with war crimes during the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo and northern Albania that claimed the lives of over 100 people, the Specialist Prosecutor's Office (SPO) in The Hague said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, a special court in The Hague, known as the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, launched hearings on Thaci's war crimes case. Thaci served as commander-in-chief of the Albanian-led Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a separatist group aspiring to gain the status of a constituent republic in what was then Yugoslavia, and three other former top KLA members, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, who pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The hearings will take place from April 3-5 and will be attended by 140 prosecution witnesses, who are victims or had their loved ones suffer from the actions of Thaci and the KLA.
"They are responsible for at least 102 murders and used violent deprivation of liberty," representatives of the special prosecutor's office said at the hearing, which lasted several hours.
SPO prosecutors said the crimes were committed systematically and continuously "to carry out a joint criminal purpose." Prosecutors showed a map indicating camps in KLA "operational zones," as well as facilities where victims, including agricultural workers, teachers, journalists, and political opponents, were held in inhumane conditions and tortured.
Each of the defendants is charged individually with six counts of crimes against humanity: persecution, deprivation of liberty, inhumane treatment, torture, murder, enforced disappearance of persons; as well as four counts of war crimes: unlawful imprisonment, cruel treatment, torture, and murder.
During 2018-2019, up to 200 former KLA members were summoned to The Hague to testify in war crimes cases. Among them was former KLA commander and former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned in 2019 and then voluntarily went to The Hague, but exercised his right to remain silent and returned to Kosovo's capital of Pristina. Thaci also voluntarily went to The Hague after resigning as Kosovo's leader in 2020 due to war crimes indictment.
