‘Nobody is above the law:’ Kosovo ex-president’s trial opens

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Kosovo’s former president has pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, torture and persecution as he went on trial with three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Hashim Thaci resigned from office in 2020 to defend himself against the charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during his country’s 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia. He told judges at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on Monday: “I am fully not guilty.” The other three defendants also repeated not guilty pleas made at earlier pretrial hearings. Prosecutor Alex Whiting has told judges that the KLA had “a very clear and explicit policy of targeting collaborators and perceived traitors including political opponents.”