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UÇKHistory and Memory

16 September 2026 · The postwar period and legacy

The first-instance judgment in Thaçi et al.

On 16 September 2026 Trial Panel II of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers found Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi guilty of war crimes and not guilty of crimes against humanity. The judgment is not final.
Evidence status: Documented. Supported by contemporaneous documents, institutional reports or independent studies that corroborate one another.After June 1999JusticePostwar

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

Key facts

Date
16 September 2026
Place
Unknown
Sources
3
Evidence status
Evidence status: Documented. Supported by contemporaneous documents, institutional reports or independent studies that corroborate one another.

The sentences pronounced were 25 years for Thaçi and Krasniqi, 18 years for Veseli and 13 years for Selimi, with credit for time served. The Panel found that the violence amounted to a widespread and systematic attack, but it was not proven to be directed against a civilian population [1].

The judgment concerns four individuals and specific charges. Under the archive's editorial principle, it is not a judgment against the KLA as a whole, the war of liberation or every one of its members. Details and the exact procedural status are in the case tracker.

This point is disputed. A first-instance decision: it may be appealed and is not a final finding of guilt.

How do we know this?

Sources

  1. [1]Dhomat e Specializuara të Kosovës dhe Zyra e Prokurorit të Specializuar. Summary of Trial Judgment in Specialist Prosecutor v. Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi (KSC-BC-2020-06). 2026-09-16. KSC-BC-2020-06. https://www.scp-ks.org/sites/default/files/public/20260916-SummaryofJudgment-Thaci-et-al-EN.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. [2]Dhomat e Specializuara të Kosovës dhe Zyra e Prokurorit të Specializuar. Hashim Thaçi and co-defendants found guilty of war crimes. 2026-09-16. https://www.scp-ks.org/en/hashim-thaci-and-co-defendants-found-guilty-war-crimes. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. [3]Dhomat e Specializuara të Kosovës dhe Zyra e Prokurorit të Specializuar. Specialist Prosecutor v. Hashim Thaçi et al. (KSC-BC-2020-06) — faqja e çështjes. KSC-BC-2020-06. https://www.scp-ks.org/en/cases/hashim-thaci-et-al. Accessed 2026-09-16.

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