Key Facts

• Hashim Thaci is 58 years old and was Kosovo’s former president.
• He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes during the Kosovo war against Serbia in the 1990s.
• More than 10,000 people died in that war.
• Thaci was a leader and co-founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought for Kosovo’s independence.
• He was convicted of murder, illegal arrests, torture, and cruel treatment but not all charges against him were proven.
• Thaci resigned as president in 2020 to face trial at The Hague, which is an international court in the Netherlands.
• Thousands of people in Kosovo watched the verdict and showed strong emotions, with some in tears.
• The KLA was accused of attacking the ethnic Serb minority during the war.