Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes by a court in The Hague
Thaci, 58, was sentenced by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers for crimes committed as commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army during the region's violent insurgency to break from Serbia in the 1990s.
The tribunal found him responsible for the murder by KLA forces of 96 political opponents and perceived collaborators with Serbian security forces during the conflict.
Thaci was also convicted for the arbitrary illegal detention of 385 people, torture of 303 people and cruel treatment of around 50.
The court said he had “actively participated in and encouraged crimes”.
Thaci, who stood in silence as the judge read out the conviction and the sentence, had denied all charges.
Dozens of Thaci supporters had gathered outside the court before the verdict waving KLA flags and chanting “UCK”, the Albanian acronym for the army.
In the Kosovan city of Pristina, thousands of people watching on a big screen booed the verdict and chanted “Thaci, Thaci” as some burst into tears.
