Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / The Hague sentences Kosovo ex-President Hashim Thaci to 25 years for war crimes

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The Hague sentences Kosovo ex-President Hashim Thaci to 25 years for war crimes · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Kosovo's former president, Hashim Thaci, has been found guilty of
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: war crimes by a tribunal in The Hague. The crimes
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: date back to his time as a senior commander in
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the Kosovo Liberation Army during the country's brutal war of
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: independence against Serbia. Thaci was given 25 years in prison
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: for crimes including murder, torture and illegal detention.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Outside the courtroom in The Hague, supporters of former Kosovo
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  Speaker 2: President Hashim Sachi gathered in numbers, awaiting the verdict. On
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: the other side of the continent, in Kosovo's capital Pristina,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: thousands descended on Skanderbeg Square to watch the court broadcast live.
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  Speaker 2: Inside the courtroom, Thatcher and his three co-defendants, also former
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  Speaker 2: senior leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, remained stony-faced as
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  Speaker 2: the judges entered to give their verdict.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: The panel now sentences you to a single sentence of
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  Speaker 1: 25 years of imprisonment with credit for time served.
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  Speaker 3: Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Thatcher, you may be seated.
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  Speaker 2: A defiant shrug from the man himself, but among his supporters,
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  Speaker 2: both outside and back home, there is an almost funereal
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: sense of dismay. Satchu remains a revered figure in Kosovo
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  Speaker 2: because of his role in the war. The tribunal has
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  Speaker 2: proven deeply unpopular in his homeland.
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  Speaker 4: Even NATO itself took part in these actions. If we're criminals,
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: then they're criminals together with us because we fought the
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: war together. We are deeply aggrieved by the verdict handed
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: down against them. We know they're innocent and the people
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: of Kosovo have not condemned them.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: But not everyone is unhappy with the verdict. To the north,
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  Speaker 2: in the Serbian capital Belgrade, the public's mood was unsurprisingly
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: somewhat different.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: He deserves a life sentence. I believe it's not enough
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  Speaker 4: bearing in mind what he did, but it does mean
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  Speaker 4: something for the Serbian people. I think he could have
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: got a higher sentence.
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  Speaker 2: After the verdict, there were minor clashes outside the courtroom
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: between angry Thatchy supporters and Dutch police. Several people were arrested.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: In Pristina, Thatchy supporters threw stones at the EU's rule
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  Speaker 2: of law building. Kosovo's war of independence ended nearly three
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: decades ago, but the wounds of that brutal conflict remain
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  Speaker 2: open for many on both sides.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: And let's get more now. We are joined by Idro Seferi,
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  Speaker 1: DW correspondent and writer from Kosovo in Belgrade. How tense
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  Speaker 1: is the situation in Kosovo as the result.
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  Speaker 4: Of the verdict?
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  Speaker 5: Well, there was a tear and anger and protests, which
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  Speaker 5: were followed by a few incidents near the headquarters of EULEX,
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  Speaker 5: which is the special mission for law and justice of
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  Speaker 5: EU in Kosovo. Thousands of people had gathered in main
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: square in Pristina, but in other cities too, to follow
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  Speaker 5: the final verdict of the four or leaders of KLA
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  Speaker 5: in Kosovo and after the verdict was not freeing them,
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  Speaker 5: they started walking in the protest and then they went.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Near the headquarters of ULEX in Kosovo, but.
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: Then they fast moved again to the city center. People
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  Speaker 5: were hoping that the four now declared guilty representatives of
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: KLA were to be freed. And for weeks, they were
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  Speaker 5: gathering in different campaigns to say that they are being
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: held in The Hague with no reasons. And the Kosovo
• 4:34
  Speaker 5: Liberation War was actually a just war, so the hopes
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  Speaker 5: didn't work in the way they were expecting.
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  Speaker 1: And there's also been a reaction in Serbia, right?
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  Speaker 5: Yes, the majority of political parties reacted to this, also
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  Speaker 5: the media. We are expecting still to have reactions later
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  Speaker 5: tonight from the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who will
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  Speaker 5: have the press conference related to this case. But from
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  Speaker 5: what I can see, Serbs are not happy because also
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  Speaker 5: the court did not take in consideration the allegations about
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  Speaker 5: crimes against humanity in which I guess the politics and
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  Speaker 5: people in Serbia were hoping to get to get some
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  Speaker 5: let's say some in this case but the court said
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: that this was not the case and reactions were quite
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  Speaker 5: strong in Serbia to.
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  Speaker 1: So tell us just briefly, just remind us what exactly
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  Speaker 1: Tachi was then convicted of.
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  Speaker 5: The four of them were accused, firstly, let's say for
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  Speaker 5: joint activity for war crimes and for murders and cases
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  Speaker 5: that happened during the war, but also in a period
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  Speaker 5: after the war.
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  Speaker 3: He was.
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  Speaker 5: Found guilty because the court said that in many cases
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  Speaker 5: they detained people. More than 300 people were illegally.
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  Speaker 3: Detained and tortured.
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  Speaker 5: And also they mentioned around 100 cases of which ended
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  Speaker 5: up fatally with deaths.
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  Speaker 3: And this was the base, the core of.
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  Speaker 5: The result of the court was also sentencing the four
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  Speaker 5: leaders of KLA. Of course, this started a longer time ago,
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  Speaker 5: also with other more serious allegations during the past time,
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  Speaker 5: but these were not part of the indictment.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Why was Tachi able to pursue a political career for
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  Speaker 1: two decades despite being investigated for war crimes?
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  Speaker 5: Well, Sochi was prime minister of Kosovo from 2008 till 2014.
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  Speaker 5: He was the guy who declared Kosovo as an independent state.
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  Speaker 5: And later on, in the moment when the indictments were
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  Speaker 5: being published in.
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  Speaker 3: 2020, he was the current president.
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  Speaker 5: Uh, of Kosovo, uh, Kosovo, uh, Albanians being part of
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  Speaker 5: Kosovo liberation army. They were, uh, accused before by the ICTI,
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  Speaker 5: which was, uh, uh, focusing on the ex Yugoslavia, but, uh,
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  Speaker 5: thought it was never part of, of, uh, any accusations.
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  Speaker 3: He was, uh, only when in 2010, we had, uh, this, uh,
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  Speaker 3: suspicions based on EU.
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  Speaker 5: Did form a task force to investigate this and in
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  Speaker 5: 2015 we had Kosovo voting for creation of this court
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  Speaker 5: in collaboration with EU and changed its constitution and it
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  Speaker 5: was actually Tachi who was leading himself, the campaign in
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  Speaker 5: a way, or the process of forming this court particularly.
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  Speaker 5: Of course, he was a part of all the negotiations
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  Speaker 5: between Kosovo, Serbia, and international negotiations since 1999 about Kosovo.
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  Speaker 3: And also, he was really.
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  Speaker 5: Respected also from international community in this process as being
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  Speaker 5: called by Joe Biden as George Washington of Kosovo also
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  Speaker 5: when his indictment was published. He was in a flight
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  Speaker 5: going to the United States in Frankfurt to the White
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  Speaker 5: House to sign an agreement with Serbia, which never was
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  Speaker 5: signed from him.
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  Speaker 1: Idris Seferi, DW correspondent and writer from Kosovo in Belgrade.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Thank you.