The face of a criminal! Hashim Thaci reacts to 25 year prison sentence with bitter smile

Hashim Thaci was today sentenced in The Hague to 25 years in prison by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. He was convicted on charges of war crimes, including murder, torture and illegal imprisonment, committed while he was the commander of the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA) in the 1990s.

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The sentencing was broadcast in its entirety, and as his long-term imprisonment was announced, Thaci briefly smiled and then sat down.

The court announced that Thaci was guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and persons believed to be collaborating with the Serbian security forces, committed by the KLA during the war in Kosovo and Metohija.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers announced that the aggravating circumstances for Thaci were that he abused his position to achieve a joint punishable goal, while the mitigating factor was that he contributed (while holding political office in Pristina) to the effort to establish the Specialist Chambers.

Specialist Chambers judge Charles Smith said during the sentencing that Hashim Tachi, Jakub Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi and Kadri Veseli, who all stood accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, although their responsibility was individual and personal, none could have done what was done on their own.

The court in The Hague found that the four are responsible of arbitrary imprisonment of 385 persons, cruel treatment of 49 persons, torture of 303 persons and murder of 96 persons.

Selimi was sentenced to 13, Krasniqi to 25, and Veseli to 18 years in prison.

After the first-instance verdict many questions are being raised about the further course of the proceedings.

According to the rules of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the four that were today convicted will remain in custody during the appeals process.

(Telegraf.rs)