Kosovo's ex-president Thaci pleads not guilty in The Hague

Hashim Thaci, former president of Kosovo on Monday pleaded not guilty at a special court in The Hague.

He, along with three others, is accused of war crimes committed during the 1998-99 insurgency which eventually brought independence from Serbia and made Thaci a hero.

What happened at the time?

Thaci was the commander of a militia called the Kosovo Liberation Army, which had Albanian nationalism as a central tenet.

During the insurgency, when Kosovo was still a province of Serbia, more than 13,000 people are said to have been killed. A majority of them were from Kosovo's 90% ethnic Albanian majority.

Thaci was indicted in 2020 by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on 10 counts of war crimes including murder, torture and forced disappearances. He pleaded not guilty at a hearing in 2020.

Thousands of people gathered in Pristina on Sunday to protest against the trial.

What can we expect from the trial?

Hugh Williamson, director at Human Rights Watch in Europe and Central Asia said that the trial "offers a chance after so many years for the victims to learn what happened and highlight the pervasive impunity that still hangs over the Kosovo conflict."

The Kosovo Specialist Chambersseated in the Netherlands was set up in 2015 to handle cases against the former KLA guerrillas.

The tribunal is part of Kosovo's judicial system but is staffed by international judges and prosecutors. It was moved to The Hague for security reasons.

It was created separately from the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which tried and convicted mainly Serbian officials for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Thaci who headed the Democratic Party of Kosovo resigned as president shortly after his indictment. He was then transferred to a detention center in The Hague.

The trial is likely to be lengthy as prosecutors said they would need two years to present all the evidence.

Protesters gather in support of Thaci

In Kosovo, the KLA continues to enjoy large popularity.

Many believe that the tribunal is biased against the KLA and is interested in denigrating its record in fighting for independence from Serbia's brutal rule.

Thousands of protesters in Pristina expressed support for Thaci and his associates. They changed 'Freedom', carried flags of Kosovo and posters that read "The KLA is our pride."

The protest was called by most major political parties.

ns/rc (Reuters, Dpa)