With the start of closing arguments in the proceedings against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the Prosecution has requested sentences of up to 45 years for each of the accused. Trial monitors have emphasized the importance of an individual assessment of evidence and the application of the most favorable law, reports Ekonomia Online.
Lawyer Amer Alija from the Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo (HLCK) told Ekonomia Online that procedural rules require closing arguments to be presented first by the Prosecution, followed by the victims’ representative, and finally by the defense. He explained that the Specialist Prosecutor, in her opening remarks, summarized the Prosecution’s case and mentioned the request for a 45-year prison sentence for each defendant.
Alija stated that if the court finds the defendants guilty, it is obliged to apply the principle of lex mitior—the more favorable law for the accused at the time of sentencing—while also taking into account established sentencing practices for war crimes.
He noted that sentences imposed by domestic courts for war crimes have generally ranged from five to 15 years, while the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) imposed sentences between 14 and 22 years, mainly against senior Serbian officials. According to Alija, the law of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), which was in force at the time the crimes were allegedly committed, is considered more favorable in terms of sentencing.
Alija further emphasized that the trial has been characterized by a high level of witness protection for Prosecution witnesses and heavily redacted hearings, limiting public access. This, he said, has made it difficult for monitors and the media to fully follow the proceedings.
Due to restricted access to case files, Alija stressed that neither monitors nor the public can comprehensively evaluate the evidence, and that only the trial panel—after assessing each piece of evidence and testimony individually—can render a substantiated decision.
The Specialist Prosecutor, Kimberly West, has requested individual sentences of 45 years for Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi, urging the court to consider the weight of each defendant’s alleged actions.
According to the indictment, the former KLA leaders are accused of participating in a joint criminal enterprise related to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including approximately 100 killings, torture, and cruel treatment in around 40 detention facilities during the 1998–1999 period. The Prosecution claims that most victims were Kosovo Albanian civilians, including members of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
The accused have denied all charges, arguing that the KLA did not operate under a centralized hierarchy and that its aim was to fight Serbian forces, not civilians.
