Delay to Thaci War Crimes Verdict Draws Criticism in Kosovo

Supporters of former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders hold pictures of Hashim Thaci and Kadri Veseli at a rally in Pristina, February 2026. Photo: EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers announced on Wednesday that the trial panel in the war crimes and crimes against humanity trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other former guerrilla leaders has “issued an order extending the deadline for the pronouncement of the trial judgment by 60 days, until 20 July 2026”.

The delay was criticised by supporters of the four former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA officials on trial.

Explaining the need for the 60-day extension, the judges noted that, during the course of the proceedings, they received the evidence of approximately 270 witnesses and admitted 5,497 exhibits into evidence. “The transcript of these proceedings is 29,238 pages in length,” the May 5 decision reads.

According to the court’s regulations, a verdict should be announced within 90 days of the closure of a trial. The trial of Thaci, former parliamentary speakers Kadri Veseli and Jakup Krasniqi, and former MP Rexhep Selimi, ended on February 18, so the verdict was expected by May 19.

However, an additional 60 days is allowed when “a further extension is absolutely necessary”.

The trial panel under Judge Charles L Smith III also said that in the future it will issue another extension decision if necessary.

The opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, founded by Thaci, slated the decision and called on “the international community and justice institutions to reflect and not allow this process to become an example of the failure of international justice.

“This unjustified delay is further evidence of this protracted process, which has lost its sense of justice and has become a process influenced by political calculations,” it said.

Liria ka emer (Freedom Has a Name), a movement in support of KLA members facing legal proceedings in The Hague, also condemned the decision, considering it “completely unacceptable” and “a bad precedent for international justice”.

It said the detention of the former KLA leaders “for almost six years violates every standard of international justice and fundamental human rights” and damages people’s trust in international justice institutions.

Thaci resigned as Kosovo President in November 2020 to face war crimes charges and together with the three other co-accused were sent at the detention centre in The Hague, where they have been ever since. The trial started in April 2023.

The four defendants are accused of having individual and command responsibility, as part of a joint criminal enterprise, for crimes committed against prisoners held at KLA detention facilities in Kosovo and Albania. They allegedly waged a “systemic campaign” against opponents, which included 102 murders. All four men pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution attempted to prove that, as members of the KLA’s General Staff, the four men were responsible for lower-ranking fighters who committed crimes. The defence argued that the KLA did not have a proper army command structure, so the defendants did not have real authority over the lower-ranking KLA guerrillas.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers was created specifically to try former members of the KLA; it is located in The Hague and staffed by international judges and prosecutors due to doubts about the Kosovo justice system’s own ability to try former KLA fighters, many of whom are considered heroes in Kosovo.

In late 2024, Thaci was also charged with obstruction of justice, alongside four co-accused, including Kosovo’s former justice minister, Hajredin Kuci. The trial in this case started in February, days after the proceedings in the war crimes and crimes against humanity trial ended. Thaci and his four-co-accused in the obstruction of justice case – Kuci, Isni Kilaj, Bashkim Smakaj and Fadil Fazliu – have denied wrongdoing.