The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague has requested 45-year prison sentences for former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi, accusing them of murder, torture, and persecution during the 1998–1999 Kosovo war.
The prosecution’s request, totaling 180 years of imprisonment, is being viewed by observers as significantly harsher than sentencing requests previously made by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in similar cases involving KLA figures.
Comparison With ICTY Cases
In earlier high-profile ICTY cases involving Kosovo war figures, prosecutors sought less severe sentences. In the case of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, ICTY prosecutors requested a 25-year sentence during closing arguments. However, Haradinaj was acquitted on April 3, 2008, and later fully cleared again after a partial retrial on November 29, 2012.
Similarly, ICTY prosecutors sought a 10-year prison sentence for Fatmir Limaj, now leader of the NISMA party. Limaj was acquitted on November 30, 2005, with the Appeals Chamber upholding the acquittal on September 27, 2007.
Contrast With Other War Crimes Judgments
While ICTY handed down severe punishments in cases related to the Bosnia war—including life sentences for Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić—the tribunal’s main cases linked to Kosovo generally resulted in acquittals of senior KLA figures.
In this context, the current prosecution request of 180 years in total prison sentences against the four former KLA commanders is widely regarded as an unprecedented level of punitive demand in cases connected to the KLA before international or hybrid courts in The Hague.
The proceedings remain ongoing, and the final verdict will be determined after the judicial process concludes.
