Kosovo’s president Hashim Thaci steps down to face charges for war crimes

Thaci was indicted in the summer along with nine other former rebel leaders by a special Kosovo court based in The Hague

The charges include murder, enforced disappearances, persecution and torture

Reading Time:3 minutes

Kosovo president Hashim Thaci. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:51pm, 5 Nov 2020Updated: 9:51pm, 5 Nov 2020

Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci, a guerilla leader during Kosovo’s war for independence from Serbia in the late 1990s, resigned on Thursday and will face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague.

Thaci said he was taking the step “to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo” and to preserve the historical truth of who was perpetrator, and who victim, in the conflict.

“We are a freedom-loving people and not vengeful,” the 52-year-old Thaci said at a news conference in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. “That is why no claim may rewrite history. Kosovo has been the victim. Serbia has been the aggressor.”

Thaci was indicted in the summer along with nine other former rebel leaders by a special Kosovo court based in The Hague, Netherlands, which was set up to try the alleged crimes of former ethnic Albanian rebel leaders. The charges include murder, enforced disappearances, persecution and torture.

Kadri Veseli, a former parliament speaker and an opposition party leader. Photo: EPA-EFE

Among those charged is Kadri Veseli, a former parliament speaker and an opposition party leader, who said he planned to travel to the The Hague on Thursday and was resigning from “all public political activities”.