Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci has been jailed for 25 years after being found criminally responsible for war crimes following a trial in The Hague.
Thaci, 58, was convicted by a panel of judges of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention, as top commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the territory's violent break from Serbia in the 1990s.
The tribunal said he was guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces by Kosovo Liberation Army forces during the conflict.
Thaci was also convicted for the arbitrary illegal detention of 385 people, the torture of 303 people, and the cruel treatment of about 50.
The court said he had "actively participated in and encouraged crimes".
"The scale and nature of the crimes committed were very serious," presiding judge Charles Smith said.
"The so-called intelligence on which many of these victims were arrested, detained and killed was little more than unverified rumours. Based on that information, victims were called and described as spies and collaborators and violently treated."
Thaci, who had denied the charges, stood in silence as the judge read out the conviction and the sentence.
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He was facing multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and persecution, alongside three other former high-ranking commanders of the ethnic Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war.
Prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers court in The Hague had asked for a maximum 45-year prison sentence for Thaci and the other defendants - Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. They all denied the charges.
"Throughout my life, I stood with the people of Kosovo defending freedom, life and dignity. I was always guided by the Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice," Thaci told judges in February at the end of his almost three-year trial.
The ruling was followed closely in Kosovo and Serbia, where the legacy of the 1998-99 conflict and Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence remains a dividing force between ethnic Kosovo Albanians and Serbs.
Thaci is a revered figure among many Kosovo Albanians, while the tribunal itself is hugely unpopular in Kosovo.
Thousands rallied in Pristina in support of the four men ahead of the verdict.
Crowds filled a central square in the capital, with many waving red and black Albanian flags. "In the name of the people, declare them innocent," one banner read.
As the verdict was read out, a mass of people watching on a big screen booed and chanted "Thaci, Thaci" as some
burst into tears.
Police said preparations had been made with foreign peacekeeping forces in case there were violent demonstrations.
Albania's Prime Minister, Edi Rama, posted a picture on social media of a circle of barbed wire across a map of Europe, summing up the verdict in one word: "Unbelievable"
(c) Sky News 2026: Kosovo's former president jailed for 25 years over war crimes
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