Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci Sentenced To 25 Years For War Crimes

The 58-year-old Thaci, and three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war, was convicted on four counts of war crimes: illegal and arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture, and murder. Judge Charles Smith said the men, widely regarded as national heroes in Kosovo, had been engaged in a "common criminal purpose" that involved arbitrary detention of at least 385 people at locations in Kosovo and northern Albania under KLA control.