What the court decided
On September 16, 2026, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague delivered their first-instance judgment against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi — leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
The panel found the four guilty of war crimes as members of a joint criminal enterprise, and sentenced Thaçi and Krasniqi to 25 years each, Veseli to 18, and Selimi to 13. They were acquitted of crimes against humanity. The judgment is at first instance and can be appealed.
For much of the Albanian world, these are the men who helped lead a people out of occupation, and the verdict landed as a wound. The diaspora did not receive it in silence.
Why we stood together
We stood with our leaders, and we stood for a fair and impartial process — the same standard we ask of every court and every institution.
This was never about one party or one politician. It is about a people that refuses to let its history be rewritten, and that shows up for one another when it matters most.
One people. One history. One justice.
What comes next
The ruling is at first instance, and the defense has said it will appeal — so this is not the last word.
Whatever the courts ultimately decide, the diaspora showed on September 16 that it turns out for its own — with dignity, and with one voice the world could hear from the center of New York.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers delivered the first-instance judgment in the Thaçi et al. case on 16 September 2026.