Former Kosovo president Thaci sentenced to 25 years for war crimes

Thaci, 58, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes committed as top commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the territory's violent break from Serbia in the 1990s.

The tribunal said he was guilty of the murder of 96 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces by Kosovo Liberation Army forces during the conflict.

He was also convicted for the arbitrary illegal detention of 385 people, torture of 303 people and cruel treatment of around 50.

The court said Thaci had "actively participated in and encouraged crimes".

"The scale and nature of the crimes committed were very serious," presiding judge Charles Smith said.

"The so-called intelligence on which many of these victims were arrested, detained and killed was little more than unverified rumours. Based on that information, victims were called and described as spies and collaborators and violently treated."

Thaci, who stood in silence as the judge read out the conviction and the sentence, had denied all charges.

He can appeal the verdict.

SUPPORTERS GATHER IN PRISTINA AND THE HAGUE

The ruling was closely watched in Kosovo and Serbia, where the legacy of the 1998-99 conflict and Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence remain a source of tension between ethnic Kosovo Albanians and Serbs.

Thaci remains a revered figure for many Kosovo Albanians, while the tribunal itself is deeply unpopular in Kosovo.

In Pristina, Kosovo's capital, thousands of people watching the verdict on a big screen booed the verdict and chanted "Thaci, Thaci" as some burst into tears.

One billboard showing the faces of the defendants which read: "In the name of the people you are declared innocent"

"This verdict is shameful. From today, there will be no peace in Kosovo," said Raif Pllana, a former KLA fighter who came out in support of Thaci in central Pristina.

Police said preparations had been made with foreign peacekeeping forces in case protests turned violent. The United States advised citizens to avoid crowds.

Albania's Prime Minister criticised the verdict with a picture posted on social media of a circle of barbed wire across a map of Europe and one word: "Unbelievable"

PROSECUTORS DEMANDED 45-YEAR SENTENCE

Prosecutors had sought a 45-year sentence against Thaci and three other former top commanders of the KLA.

But the three-judge panel dismissed six charges of crimes against humanity. They said prosecutors had failed to show these happened as part of widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population as a whole.

However, they ruled that Thaci and his co-accused were part of a joint criminal enterprise, with a common plan to take control of Kosovo politics following its independence by targeting political opponents.

Lawyers for Thaci had argued that the accusations were unfounded and amounted to an attempt to rewrite history. They said there was no evidence to directly link Thaci to any of the alleged crimes or to conclude that he controlled other KLA commanders.

The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers was established in 2015 under international pressure to try former KLA fighters for alleged wartime and post-war crimes.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg in The Hague and Fatos Bytyci in Pristina, additional reporting by Marta Fiorin; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Ros Russell and Richard Lough)