Kosovo’s president said Wednesday that he would go to The Hague to be questioned by prosecutors investigating war crimes allegedly committed during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict in Kosovo between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia.
Hashim Thaci said in a statement posted in Facebook that he was "invited by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office to be interviewed” on Monday.
The prosecutor's office connected to an international court set up in The Hague to look into allegations that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1990s war announced the indictment last month of Thaci and other former fighters.
Kosovo president Hashim Thaci waits to greet Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama during his official visit to Kosovo in Pristina, Monday, June 29, 2020. Kosovo’s president on Monday denied committing war crimes during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia and said he would resign if the indictment is confirmed by an international war crimes court. (AP PhotoVisar Kryeziu)
Thaci was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation army, or KLA, that fought for independence from Serbia.
Both the president and former Kosovo assembly speaker Kadri Veseli, who also was indicted, have denied responsibility for war crimes.
The indictment accuses them of being criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders of Serbs, Roma and Kosovo Albanian political opponents, as well as forced disappearances, persecution and torture.
Kosovo president Hashim Thaci smiles as he welcomes Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama during his official visit to Kosovo in Pristina, Monday, June 29, 2020. Kosovo’s president on Monday denied committing war crimes during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia and said he would resign if the indictment is confirmed by an international war crimes court. (AP PhotoVisar Kryeziu)
A pretrial judge at The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers hasn’t made a decision on whether to proceed with the case or throw it out.
The fighting in Kosovo left more than 10,000 dead, most of them ethnic Albanians. It ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign in 1999 that forced Serbian troops to stop their brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanians and leave Kosovo.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Serbia refuses to recognize.
Leader of the (PDK) Democratic Party of Kosovo Kadri Veseli, walks out of his party headquarters to meet with Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama during his official visit to Kosovo in Pristina, Monday, June 29, 2020. Kosovo’s president on Monday denied committing war crimes during and after a 1998-1999 armed conflict between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbia, and said he would resign if an indictment against him is confirmed. Hashim Thaci said in a televised address to the nation that there was no evidence he broke the law. Last week, a prosecutor at a Kosovo court based at The Hague said he had filed charges against Thaci, former Speaker Kadri Veseli and a group of other former independence fighters. (AP PhotoVisar Kryeziu)