On the first day of closing statements in the war-crimes trial of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three others at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Monday, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, SPO, sought a sentence of 45 years’ imprisonment for each of the four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.

“The SPO has requested convictions on all 10 counts and the imposition of a single sentence of 45 years based on the individual contributions to the crimes made by each of Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi,” chief prosecutor Kimberly West told the court.

“These crimes are war crimes and crimes against humanity and are grave in nature. And the gravity of the charges has not diminished with the passage of time,” she added.

West stressed that “a conviction and sentence are not sought against the General Staff, nor against the KLA. Equally, no conviction is sought, and no sentence can be imposed, on the sole basis of being a member of the General Staff or of the KLA.”

The Specialist Chambers have been widely criticised byethnic Albanians who consider the court ethnically biased and seeking to undermine the legacy of what they see as the KLA’s just war against Serbian forces. The KLA War Veterans’ Organisation has staged four mass protests across Europe in support of the ex-KLA leaders on trial. However, prosecutors have insisted that the KLA itself is not on trial, despite the perception.

Thaci, Krasniqi, Selimi and Veseli are accused of having individual and command responsibility for crimes committed against prisoners held at KLA detention facilities in Kosovo and in neighbouring Albania, including 102 murders. The crimes were allegedly committed during and just after the Kosovo war in 1998 and 1999.

Thaci was indicted in October 2020 and resigned as Kosovo’s president the following month. He and the others have been in detention in The Hague ever since.

The so-called special court is part of Kosovo’s justice system but based in The Hague with an international staff to ensure fair proceedings, after witness intimidation problems arose in previous KLA-related cases. Many prosecution witnesses have testified behind closed doors to protect their identities due to fears of reprisals, but this has led to allegations of a lack of transparency.

The prosecution argues that Thaci and four others had command responsibility over lower-ranking fighters and also committed crimes themselves. The defence has maintained that the KLA did not have a proper command structure, and that the accused did not have the authority to hold the guerrilla fighters accountable as real power in the KLA was held by operational zone commanders.

The closing statements are scheduled to continue until February 18, with a day off on Kosovo’s independence day, on February 17.

After the closing statements, the judges’ panel has 90 days to consider its verdict, which means it may come in the spring.