(ANSA-AFP) - THE HAGUE, APR 3 - Former Kosovo president
Hashim Thaci goes on trial at a Hague war crimes tribunal Monday
accused of a bloody campaign of murder and torture in the
1998-1999 independence war with Serbia. The one-time guerrilla
hero, who denies the charges, allegedly targeted perceived
enemies of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA),
including Serbs and Roma, as the rebels sought to seize power.
Prosecutors say Thaci, who went by the nickname "Snake" during
the war, is jointly responsible for more than 100 murders by the
KLA ranging from executions to deaths of mistreated detainees.
The trial of Thaci, 54, and three other men starts at 0700 GMT
on Monday and will hear opening statements from the prosecution
and lawyers for the victims. Defence lawyers will speak from
Tuesday. They each face six counts of crimes against humanity
and four counts of war crimes, including murder, torture, forced
disappearances, persecution and cruel treatment. The other
defendants are former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi, Thaci's
closest political ally Kadri Veseli and key KLA figure Rexhep
Selimi. Thaci pleaded not guilty at a hearing in 2020. He had
resigned as president by that time and handed himself in to the
EU-funded Kosovo Specialist Chambers in the Netherlands after he
was charged. The indictment accuses Thaci and his co-defendants
of being "part of a widespread and systematic attack against
persons suspected of being opposed to the KLA", the court said
in a statement. The victims include "hundreds of civilians and
persons not taking part in hostilities". The charges date
between March 1998 and September 1999 and involve several
locations in Kosovo and northern Albania. (ANSA-AFP).
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War crimes trial of Kosovo ex-president Thaci to start
One-time guerrilla hero denies the charges