Kosovo’s President Steps Down To Face War Crimes Charges

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Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi announces his resignation in Kosovo capital Pristina on Thursday. He said he was stepping down to face war crimes charges in The Hague.

Visar Kryeziu/AP

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In a file photo from 1999, Hashim Thaci, center, head of the Kosovo Albanian negotiation team and head of the Kosovo Liberation Army political directorate, addresses a news conference in a secret location in central Kosovo.

Visar Kryeziu/AP

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According to the procedures of the Kosovo Specialist Chamber, after charges are filed, they must be confirmed by an independent judge who determines if the allegations raised are well-grounded. Thaci said Thursday he has learned the charges against him were confirmed.

Kadri Veseli, leader of Democratic Party of Kosovo to which Thaci also belongs, released a statement Thursday saying he was also indicted by the same tribunal and that he would voluntarily travel to The Hague to turn himself in. A third politician, Rexhep Selimi, a deputy in Kosovo’s parliament, also announced his indictment. He said that like Veseli, he would travel to The Hague.

Thaci’s resignation follows the arrest and transfer to The Hague on Wednesday of Jakup Krasniqi, a former KLA spokesman and former speaker of Kosovo’s parliament.

Krasniqi was arrested «pursuant to a confirmed indictment related to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and an arrest warrant and transfer order issued by a Pre-Trial Judge of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the tribunal said in a statement. It did not give details about the indictment against him.

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Stephanie van den Berg, a Dutch journalist who hosts a podcast on international war crimes, said the court is very controversial in Kosovo, where «all the KLA leaders are veteran politicians.

«It’s hugely significant that Thaci turned himself in, she said.

«He has always denied involvement in any crimes and presented himself as a liberator of his people, a peacemaker, she added. «It will be interesting to see how the special court cases against him and others play out because previous cases against Kosovar Albanians were marred by witness intimidation.

In June, Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the protection of witnesses in the case, which it says «has plagued so many war crimes trials of former KLA members, both in Kosovo and at the United Nation’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Vjosa Osmani, the speaker of Kosovo’s parliament, will fill in as interim president until lawmakers approve a successor to Thaci.