Thaci Trial in The Hague to Continue on Aug. 19

Hashim Thaci (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

The trial of the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Hashim Thaci, and the co-defendants for war crimes in Kosovo and Albania in 1998-1999, will continue on Aug. 19, after the former high-ranking KLA officer Bislim Zirapi completed his testimony on July 18.

Thaci’s co-defendants in the indictment for crimes against the Albanians, Serbs and Roma in more than 40 KLA detention units, are Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. In the period the indictment refers to, all were leading members of the KLA Main HQ and of the “transitional government of Kosovo.” From July to November 1998, Zirapi was the first operative and then the chief of the KLA Main HQ.

Since the start of the trial of Thaci, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi on April 3 last year, 77 witnesses have testified before the judges and dozens of written statements have been included in the case. The trial chamber of President Charles Smith from the U.S. gave the prosecutors until April 2025 to complete the presentation of evidence against the accused. Before the start of the proceedings, the prosecution announced that it would present more than 300 witnesses, but then, on the trial chamber’s request, reduced that number by a hundred. The trial chamber has urged the representatives of the prosecution to additionally “condense” their presentation of evidence and further reduce the number of witnesses.

The ten-count indictment against Thaci, 55, Veseli, 56, Selimi, 52 and Krasniqi, 73, lists the following crimes: persecution on political and ethnic grounds, imprisonment, illegal or arbitrary arrest and detention, other inhumane acts, cruel treatment, enforced disappearance of persons, torture (two counts) and murder (two counts). The indictment identified 75 victims – 51 Serbs, 23 Albanians and one Roma. Thaci, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi are indicted on six counts of crimes against humanity and four counts of war crimes.