Kosovo ex-president on trial for war crimes allowed to visit his sick mother
Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, who is on trial in The Hague on 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, is in Kosovo to visit his sick mother, the court says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, who is on trial in The Hague on 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, was in Kosovo on Monday to visit his sick mother, the court said.
An email message from the Kosovo Specialist Chambers said that “due to compelling humanitarian grounds, … the Trial Panel has instructed the Registry to manage a custodial visit to Kosovo for Hashim Thaci to meet family."
Thaci remained in detention and in the custody of the Specialist Chambers, with support from the EU's rule-of-law mission EULEX and Kosovo Police, it added.
Local media reported that Thaci, 55, who has been in custody at The Hague, The Netherlands, since November 2020, was in Buroje village, 70 kilometers (45 miles) west of the capital Pristina, at his mother's house.
Thaci is on trial alongside three other former senior leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, guerrilla force in Kosovo’s 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia.
They are each charged with offenses including murder, torture and persecution allegedly committed across Kosovo and northern Albania from 1998 to September 1999, during and after the war.
The trial is being held at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a branch of the Kosovo legal system that was established in The Hague in part due to fears about witness safety and security.
The court in The Hague and a linked prosecutor’s office were created after a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that KLA fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners as well as dead Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians. The organ harvesting allegations weren’t included in the indictment against Thaci.
Most of the 13,000 people who died in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo were ethnic Albanians. A 78-day campaign of NATO air strikes against Serbian forces ended the fighting. About 1 million ethnic Albanian Kosovars were driven from their homes.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's 2008 independence.
___
Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.