Closing arguments open in Thaçi war crimes trial in The Hague

Prosecutors opened closing arguments in the war crimes trial of former Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army figures in The Hague, pressing the Kosovo Specialist Chambers to convict on 10 counts arising from the 1998-99 conflict.

The four defendants — Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi — have pleaded not guilty and have been held in custody in The Hague since November 2020 after Thaçi’s indictment prompted his resignation the previous month. The charges brought by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office allege war crimes and crimes against humanity between March 1998 and September 1999, including murder, torture, persecution, unlawful detention, inhumane acts and enforced disappearances across Kosovo and in parts of northern Albania.

The prosecution told the Trial Panel it sought convictions on all 10 counts and asked for a single sentence of 45 years’ imprisonment for each defendant. Chief prosecutor Kimberly West told the court: “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 Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.” She added, “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.”

Prosecutors have also invoked the bravery of witnesses who overcame a hostile environment to testify. West said victims and witnesses “so yearned for the truth to come out” that they were willing to risk a “climate of intimidation” to give evidence, a nod to a wider pattern of threats that has shadowed the court and its witnesses.

The Specialist Chambers, an EU-backed court located in the Netherlands but operating within Kosovo’s legal framework, has held a multiyear trial that began with opening statements on April 3, 2023. The prosecution closed its case on April 15, 2025; Victims’ Counsel presented the cases of 155 participating victims in July 2025; and the defence for Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi called evidence between September and December 2025. The Trial Panel formally closed evidentiary proceedings on December 19, 2025.

Court records show 134 witnesses testified during the trial — 125 called by the prosecution, two by Victims’ Counsel and seven by the defence — and an additional 164 witness statements were admitted in written form. Balkan Insight reporting of the indictment alleges that the defendants bear individual and command responsibility for crimes at KLA detention facilities, including 102 murders, an allegation the prosecution has pressed in court.

Closing submissions are scheduled over several days in February, with hearings set for February 9–13, 16 and 18 and daily sessions running from 09:00 to 16:30. The court is observing Kosovo’s independence day on February 17 with no hearings. Proceedings can be followed via the Specialist Chambers’ streaming service in Albanian, Serbian and English with a 45-minute delay, and members of the public may attend under the court’s rules of conduct.

After closing statements, the judges have up to 90 days to consider their verdict, raising the prospect of a decision before the spring. The outcome will be watched closely across the Western Balkans and in European capitals, where the trial’s handling of wartime allegations, witness protection and internationalized justice continues to shape fragile efforts at reconciliation and regional stability.