The Hague has convicted Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, bringing one of the most controversial trials linked to the Kosovo war to its verdict.
In Kosovo, the judgment has been received by many as a profound injustice.
The four men have consistently rejected the allegations against them, while their supporters argue that the case has relied on accusations that do not reflect the reality of Kosovo’s liberation war.
The verdict has also exposed a question that has followed the Kosovo war for more than two decades: where is justice for the victims of Serbian forces?
During the 1998–99 conflict, Serbian and Yugoslav forces carried out widespread killings, expulsions and other crimes against Kosovo Albanians. Thousands of people were killed or disappeared, and hundreds of thousands were driven from their homes.
Yet many of those responsible have never been brought to justice.
That contrast is at the heart of the anger in Kosovo today.
Four prominent figures of the Kosovo Liberation Army have faced years of proceedings before an international court, while numerous alleged perpetrators of crimes committed against Kosovo Albanian civilians remain free.
For the families of those killed and missing, this is not an abstract question of legal procedure. It is a question of whether the victims of the war have received equal attention from the international justice system.
How can justice be considered complete when so many perpetrators of some of the worst crimes committed in Kosovo have never faced a courtroom?
The Hague’s verdict concerns individual defendants, but its wider impact reaches far beyond them. In Kosovo, it is being viewed by many as another attempt to judge the country’s liberation struggle through allegations against some of its leading figures, while Serbia’s responsibility for crimes committed during the war remains insufficiently addressed.
The KLA fought in a war that ended with the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the arrival of NATO and international peacekeeping forces.
For Kosovars, that historical context cannot simply be separated from the people now standing convicted in The Hague.
The verdict may have closed a courtroom case, but it has not closed Kosovo’s demand for justice.
The question remains: when will those responsible for Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo be pursued with the same determination?
Until that question is answered, many in Kosovo will continue to see the Hague verdict not as the end of the story, but as another example of a justice process that has failed to treat all victims and perpetrators equally.
