On September 16, 2026, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague found Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi guilty of war crimes. Thaçi and Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13. All four were acquitted of crimes against humanity.
We published an explainer three days before the verdict covering the court, the charges and why the case divides opinion. This piece covers what the court decided, how Kosovo and the diaspora reacted, and what still has to happen before the case is closed. As before, the National Albanian Registry takes no position on the verdict or on the four men. The goal is an accurate record.
What the court decided
The indictment covered events from March 1998 through September 1999. The trial panel found all four men criminally responsible for war crimes committed between April 1998 and June 20, 1999, according to Human Rights Watch and JusticeInfo.net, at KLA detention sites and other locations in Kosovo and northern Albania. According to the court’s summary, they are responsible for the arbitrary detention of 385 people, the cruel treatment of 49, the torture of 303 and the murder of 96.
The judges found that the four took part in a common criminal purpose: to target, detain and, if necessary, kill people seen as opponents of the KLA. The victims included Kosovo Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbian authorities or of opposing the KLA, as well as Serbs and Roma.
Several parts of the indictment did not result in convictions.
- Crimes against humanity: all four were acquitted of the six counts. The judges found the prosecution had not proved a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.
- Some specific incidents: these were found unproven, absorbed into other charges, or outside the court’s reach.
- Events after June 20, 1999: the court found the armed conflict had ended by then, so later incidents fell outside the war crimes charges.
The presiding judge, Charles Smith, said the trial was not about the legitimacy of the KLA or its goal of independence. He said the goal was not what made the acts criminal; the methods were.
The sentences
| Defendant | Sentence |
|---|---|
| Hashim Thaçi | 25 years |
| Jakup Krasniqi | 25 years |
| Kadri Veseli | 18 years |
| Rexhep Selimi | 13 years |
Prosecutors had asked for 45 years for each defendant. Time served counts toward the sentences. The four men have been held in The Hague since they were transferred there in early November 2020, almost six years before the verdict.
The court also said the trial took place in a climate of witness intimidation, a concern that was part of why the court sits in the Netherlands in the first place.
How Kosovo reacted
Supporters of the four men had expected an acquittal. Thousands gathered in Prishtina’s main square to watch the verdict on large screens. Within minutes of the sentences being read, the square was nearly empty. Some marchers moved toward the headquarters of the EU’s rule-of-law mission in Kosovo and were held back by riot police. Protests calling for what organizers called fair justice continued in the weeks that followed.
Kosovo’s political leaders rejected the outcome. Prime Minister Albin Kurti called it an “unacceptable injustice” and said he hoped the convictions would be overturned on appeal. Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca called it unjust and harmful to Kosovo. Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, also criticized the ruling.
Thaçi’s lawyer, Pierre-Richard Prosper, rejected the verdict and said the defense would appeal.
The Specialist Prosecutor, Kimberly West, welcomed the verdict. She said it showed that no one is above the law, whatever their rank or political standing, and that her office had prosecuted individuals, not the Kosovo Liberation Army or the war for Kosovo’s independence. The European Union and the U.S. State Department called on all sides to respect the court’s decision. Human Rights Watch called the verdict a step toward justice for victims and said most crimes from the Kosovo war, including those by Serbian and Yugoslav forces, have still not been prosecuted.
In Serbia, the outgoing interior minister, Ivica Dačić, said the convictions showed the KLA was a criminal and terrorist organization. The court made no such finding.
What Kosovo’s government has done since
Two developments in Prishtina are worth knowing about.
- More money for the defense: Kosovo’s government already pays the four men’s defense costs. In early November, Kurti said that support would increase and that a dedicated line for it was planned in the 2027 budget.
- A law to limit the court: in early October, Kosovo’s parliament passed a law proposed by the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) to narrow the Specialist Chambers’ mandate and maximum sentences, and to send any challenge to its final appeal ruling to Kosovo’s Supreme Court. The EU said the law goes against Kosovo’s international obligations. On October 22, at the PDK’s own request, Kosovo’s president sent the law back to parliament for reconsideration. As of early November it had not become law.
What comes next
The appeal. The trial judgment can be appealed to the court’s Court of Appeals Panel. According to the court’s weekly press briefing of October 29, the defense teams have until November 27, 2026 to file notices of appeal, and each notice is followed within 60 days by a detailed appeal brief. The prosecution said it would review the full judgment, including the counts that did not end in convictions. With briefs due as late as January 2027, a final ruling is still some way off.
Reparations. The court recognized 156 victims who took part in the trial through their own lawyer. The trial panel has said it will set a separate schedule for deciding reparations.
Thaçi’s second case. Thaçi and four co-accused face a separate trial over alleged attempts to influence witnesses in the main case. The charges are attempting to obstruct official persons, violating the secrecy of proceedings, and contempt of court. All five pleaded not guilty. The court has scheduled the judgment for November 17, 2026 and will stream it in Albanian, English and Serbian.
The court’s future. After those cases end, the Specialist Chambers is expected to wind down. Whether it indicts anyone else is an open question.
What it means for Albanian Americans
For many Albanian American families, this verdict lands in the same place the original case did: in memories of 1998 and 1999, of relatives who fled and relatives who fought. Some will see the result as an injustice against men they regard as founders of Kosovo. Others will see a court holding powerful people to account for crimes against civilians, most of them Albanian. Many hold both views at once. The court itself drew a line between the cause and the conduct, and readers will weigh that line differently.
What the moment showed again is that Albanian Americans respond to events like this as a community, in the same hours, across many cities. How large that community is remains poorly measured. Official counts miss much of it, for reasons we lay out in why the Census undercounts Albanian Americans. The National Albanian Registry is building the first community-led count. It asks nothing about your views on Kosovo, the KLA or this case. Add your family. It takes about two minutes.
Sources
- Kosovo Specialist Chambers, “Thaçi et al. Trial Judgment,” September 16, 2026, scp-ks.org
- Kosovo Specialist Chambers, “Specialist Prosecutor welcomes guilty verdicts as important to the rule of law,” September 16, 2026, scp-ks.org
- Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Weekly Press Briefing No. 39/2026, October 29, 2026, scp-ks.org
- Kosovo Specialist Chambers, case page, Hashim Thaçi et al. (administration of justice), scp-ks.org
- Euronews, “Kosovo’s former President Thaçi convicted of war crimes at Hague court,” September 16, 2026, euronews.com
- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “Hague Court Finds Former Kosovo President Thaci Guilty Of War Crimes,” rferl.org
- JusticeInfo.net, “The ambiguities of the Kosovo Chambers,” September 17, 2026, justiceinfo.net
- Human Rights Watch, “Kosovo: War Crimes Verdicts are a Step Toward Justice,” September 17, 2026, hrw.org
- Prishtina Insight, “Proposed Law to Curb Powers of Hague-Based Court Returned to Kosovo Assembly,” October 23, 2026, prishtinainsight.com
- Albeu, “Kurti promises more support for the four former KLA leaders in The Hague,” November 2, 2026, albeu.com