Sawt Falasteen - 'Utterly absurd': Kosovo ex-president denies war crimes as trial closes

More than five years since Thaci handed himself in to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) delivered his closing remarks to the court.

"The charges do not stand. I am completely innocent," he said.

Thaci, who led the KLA during its 1990s war with Serbia, appeared alongside his three co-accused, the former militia's intelligence chief Kadri Veseli, operations chief Rexhep Selimi and spokesman Jakup Krasniqi.

All pleaded not guilty and have been held since 2020.

- 'Deeply offensive' -

All four face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their alleged responsibility for killings, torture and other abuses committed by members of the ethnic Albanian rebel group during the 1998-1999 war.

Thaci also replied to allegations that he had returned to Kosovo to lead the rebel movement primarily to seize control of the country.

"This is not only entirely untrue and utterly absurd, but it's also deeply offensive."

The 57-year-old said he had been studying in Zurich when the war broke out, and had been driven to return to Kosovo after seeing massacres of ethnic Albanians in his country.

"I decided to come to Kosovo and do what any of you would have done. I am proud of that and have no regrets."

The prosecution is seeking a 45-year sentence for each of the accused.

The hearing came a day after a rally in the Balkan nation's capital drew tens of thousands to protest against the trial.

Many in the country still see Thaci and his co-accused as heroes for leading Kosovo's separatist fight against Serb forces, triggering a backlash to the hearings in The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC).

- The Hague trial -

The KLA emerged in the 1990s in response to growing oppression of the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo, then a Serbian province.

They led Kosovo's armed separatist fight, which ended after NATO bombardments forced a withdrawal of Serb forces.

Evidence provided at the trial by Serbia, which has never recognised Kosovo's independence, is particularly sensitive because of the scale of atrocities committed by the Serb police and military during the conflict.

Thousands of ethnic Albanian victims were discovered in mass graves after the war, and a separate Hague court has sentenced several former Serbian military and police officials for war crimes.

But the indictment against Thaci and the other defendants alleges that KLA members also committed crimes against hundreds of civilians and non-combatants at detention sites in Kosovo and northern Albania.

The victims, it says, included Serbs, Roma and Kosovo Albanians deemed political opponents.

Established by the country's parliament, the KSC investigates and prosecutes suspected war crimes committed by ethnic Albanian guerrillas during the war.

Although part of Kosovo's judicial system, it is physically located in The Hague and staffed solely by international judges in a bid to protect witnesses from possible retribution at home.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST